The Chessmaster's Choice
by Zaynal
Summary: When Jaune met Roman, his life changed forever. Adopting the persona of The Chessmaster, Jaune became a ruthless enforcer of Roman's will. When Roman orders him to enter Beacon to hunt all traitors to the White Fang, he accepted. But when he met a quiet book loving girl named Blake, bit by bit he began to question what he became. Faced with a choice, he found himself torn.
1. Birth of the Chessmaster

Jaune Arc, 17 years old, bright young man. Accepted into Beacon with one of the highest score. Only getting one answer wrong in the placement exam. Only a handful of other students getting a perfect score. This young man, however, had great potential to be a promising addition to Beacon Academy. So why was it that he had the eyes of a 30 year old?

When Jaune was 11, his father had died. The only person who seemed to care for his path and not his potential. He was the smartest boy in his class, the teachers loved him but his peers resented him. He was an Arc, and to be an Arc meant social isolation. No one would freely associate with him and some of the kids were particularly cruel. They would go out of their way to make Jaune miserable. He was lonely, he only had one "friend" and he would only hang out with Jaune outside of school. For fear of damage to his reputation.

When Jaune became twelve he was in some desperate need of companionship. But he refused to see his sisters, his family. What should've been a simple sibling rivalry had been fanned into utter contempt. He wasn't welcome by one of his older sisters. He mistook that to mean that all of his family hated him, so he ran away from home. His father had taught him Wilderness Survival, but Jaune figured that could translate into Urban Survival just as well. His food only lasted him two days, a lot of it rotted without proper refrigeration. Once hunger hit him particularly hard on the fourth day, his resignation of theft was gone. He snuck into a lively night club bar. He noticed a man dressed in white talking to a bearded man. Sneaking up behind him, he tried to grab the man's wallet out of his pocket. The man spun around and grabbed his hand. He knelt down to ask the boy how he could be so stupid to steal from the great Roman Torchwick. Jaune sneered as he spat at the man. He told him that he was a Heir to the Arc line and that names meant nothing. Jaune told Roman that he had nothing, Jaune had run away from home because his family hated him, that without father's protection, his siblings had come to resent him. Roman let the boy go and hugged him. Confused, Jaune had fainted from starvation.

With nowhere left to go Jaune attached himself to Roman. This man gave him one ray of hope in a sea of contempt and ridicule. Roman took Jaune under his wing, almost determined to keep Jaune away from his 'business' associates. But Jaune, eager to please a man who had shown him simple kindness, joined Roman's organization. Roman realizing that keeping the boy away would be next to impossible, embraced him as his new protege. With the help of Neo, Roman's right hand, they focused on helping Jaune master his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses. Roman, a man whose very reputation was built on cut-throat business, decided to keep Jaune hidden away. If he was to have a trump card, a person no one knew about would be the perfect one.

When Jaune had turned 13 he had experience making believable fake IDs, hotwiring cars, and laundering money. Roman also taught him how the Arc name came to be known as poison. The Schnee had made sure that the Arc's betrayal in the Faunus war would be severely punished. They dedicated every resource they had to the public denouncement of the Arcs. And it had worked. Now Jaune knew why his father hated the Schnee so much.

When Jaune turned 14, he became proficient in removing traces of hacking and he had his first kill. It was in self-defense, a bar fight was ensuing and Jaune went in to break it up. When the man pulled out a broken beer bottle on him and cut him across the face, Jaune punched the man multiple times and swept at his legs. Falling, the man lands on the other half of the broken bottle. Glass quickly embedding into his skin, the man bled out quickly. Jaune looked on in horror at what he had done. The man quickly died. The next few days were a blur, he would constantly throw up and Roman comforted him and told him that it wasn't his fault. That next time he killed someone, it would be cleaner, less bloody. But Jaune never got used to murder.

When Jaune turned 15, he became Torchwick's shadow. Making sure deals were honored, and bargains were made, and when they weren't he would, silently, remind them that Torchwick didn't like being stolen from. By the time he had turned 16, he was a ghost. Elusive, no one other than Roman knew what he looked like, and he issued his orders through untraceable scrolls. Anyone who disobeyed were swiftly dealt with. It was also around this time that Roman joined the White Fang and came to work under a woman named Cinder Fall. Jaune did not like this woman because she lorded over Roman, and Jaune admired Roman above all else. When he turned 17, Roman ordered him to enter into Beacon and find any and all White Fang deserters and execute them. Once again he would have to get his hands dirty. A concept that didn't sit well with him.

Forging the documents were simple enough, and he had the aptitude and combat strength that they would never question them. It was the perfect crime, just one in the long list of them that Jaune committed ever since he met Roman Torchwick. The weak and bullied child no longer existed, only a man with a plan remained, a hardened criminal who viewed anyone beneath him as pawns to be moved in the grand plan. And he had so many to fish out the traitors who were dumb enough to think they could leave the White Fang.


	2. Black King

_**Distant Past-?**_**?_?_**

A teenage boy stood in the shivering cold wondering what to do. The rain didn't care for his situation. Sure he had gotten into one too many fights. Sure he started hanging out with the wrong crowd. Sure the neighbors talked badly about him behind his back. But he hadn't expected his father to cut him out like that. _You're no son of mine!_ were the words that came to mind when the door had slammed in his face. He could always go see his friends, go see what the whole wide world had to offer. Sure he regretted his bad decisions, but now they seemed to define him. Now he was forced down the path of darkness, and he felt resigned to it.

The rain had made the boy's orange hair cling to, and block, his eyes. If he must walk down the path then he would walk it with style. He would walk it with dignity. But today... today he would weep. He would mourn the loss of his future, mourn the loss of a father, and mourn the loss of his siblings. Turning around to face the door, he looked up at the third story window.

"Goodbye little brother..." The tears wouldn't and couldn't stop. He looked down and within him a spark ignited, a fire in his soul. He would destroy his father's legacy. He would take down his empire brick by brick. He would show the world that he wasn't one to be trifled with. Just as his future was stolen from him, he would steal his father's past.

And to do this he had to let go of his previous identity, his previous name. From that day forward, he called himself Roman Torchwick.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Beacon**

Jaune sits uncomfortably on the airship to Beacon. In just a few moments the ship would land and his life as a totally ordinary student would begin. He blankly stares at the watch Roman gave him on his 17th birthday. 3:47 in the afternoon, plenty of time to get some training in. In the edge of his peripheral vision he notices a familiar girl being hugged to death. Turning his head he recognizes who the girl was, Ruby Rose. The girl who beat up a good chunk of his men. Jaune's upper lip twists in contempt, but he barely manages to hide it. He would have to keep tabs on her, she could prove to a major thorn in his side.

A soft bell dings in his pocket, he pulls out his scroll, puts his earbuds in and listens to the message left by []. That was the symbol Roman used to let Jaune know that the line wasn't secure. It meant the message was obviously encoded. He hears the synthetic voice of a child speak.

"The bad little doggies have to be taught a lesson. They have to be given a time out. They left a mess and we have to clean it up and we have to be careful to not make a further mess of things while we clean the mess up." The message was clear: find the traitors, kill them and make sure to make it look like an accident. He hits the delete button and takes out the ear buds.

He had to make a scene, he had to make people underestimate him, make them think he's a loveable idiot and not a calculating and manipulating person. He knows just the trick, but he almost doesn't want to go through with it. He takes a quick sip of rotted egg mix that he made earlier. The taste disagreeing with him and his stomach already violently reacting to the horrendous concoction. Opting to down it all and damn the taste, his stomach responded in kind, five seconds before evacuation. He ran, and made it just in time as his body dry heaved. As he brings his face closer to the trashcan the ship banked a little too hard on the port and predictably bile was thrown across the floor._  
_

"GROSS YANG YOU HAVE VOMIT ON YOUR SHOE!" Ruby screamed at the girl named Yang.

"GROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSSGROSS." The girl named Yang was freaking out and Jaune groaned loudly. As the plane touched down, everyone on the ship got out. Jaune weakly got out of the ship and limped slowly towards the school.

He sits on the ground to gather his bearings. He quietly observes the area surrounding him. People having awkward conversations, some flirting. Sighing he stops paying attention. In the corner of his eye though he sees rapid arm motion. Refocusing his attention he sees the Schnee Heiress yelling at Ruby while shaking red Dust at her. Jaune blinks. This was the lady that was supposed to take control of the Schnee Dust Company? A lunatic that waved Dust around like an expensive toy? If only to confirm his suspicions, Ruby sneezes and causes a minor explosion. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jaune slowly starts to get up. Patting off any dirt or grass that might have attached to his clothing; he takes a step forward before realize a new person was there. A black haired girl wearing a black bow argued with the Schnee Heiress. He silently watches the interaction, unable to hear them. The Schnee Heiress screamed a _How Dare you! _loud enough to make Jaune's ears ring. When they finished arguing and walk off, Ruby dropped to the floor with a dejected look.

"Hi, my name is Jaune." He politely tells her his name. One of the rules of deception was to never reveal your true emotions. He wore the face of a polite young man who didn't know who Ruby Rose was. He offers out his hand.

"Ruby." She takes his hand and smiles. "Hey wait aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" Jaune glares at her as she dusts herself off; one of the other rules was that if you had to show your true emotions, have them be misplaced or misunderstood. Jaune quickly zones out most of the conversation as it was mindless banter, until the topic of weapons came up.

"A high impact sniper scythe. Very nice." Jaune runs his hand across the scythe, quietly assessing the make of the weapon, and making a mental note to himself to research the weaknesses of Titanium based weapons.

"So what you got?" Ruby asks. He looks at her and takes out his weapons.

"I got this sword and shield. It's a hand me down, my great great grandfather used it to fight in the war." He looks bitterly at the damn thing.

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me. Well I like it, not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days," she tries to placate him. He bites back a scathing reply.

"Yeah... the classics..."

"So why'd you help me out back in the courtyard?"

"Eh why not, my mother tells me strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," which was only a half truth. What Jaune truly intended to do was put himself in the heart of events and information. And Ruby looked like a great place to start. She was after all a girl who got herself into a mess of trouble constantly. As they walked together through the courtyard, they quickly realized they were lost. Well, Ruby was lost; Jaune merely played along. Ruby asked a nearby student where to head, they point them in the direction of walking through the cafeteria as a shortcut. As they reached the auditorium Ruby was beckoned away from Jaune. Offering a quick apology she runs. Jaune twiddles his thumbs, waiting for the Headmaster to give his speech of self-discovery or greatness or some other bullshit Jaune didn't particularly care for. Looking around he sees Ruby arguing with the Schnee Heiress. Again.

"Looks like you're off to a GREAT start making friends Ruby._" _Jaune mutters under his breath as he witnesses this unfold. Ruby holds out her hand and says something in which the Schnee Heiress sarcastically and loudly responds

"We can talk about cute boys like tall, blond and scraggly over there." She points to Jaune. He merely blinks in confusion. He wasn't a part of that conversation, why mention him at all? Before he can decide a response a mic is turned on and the feedback causes a painful ringing in his ears.

The Headmaster gives some speech about knowledge not being enough. Jaune chuckles at the man's naivete. Here was one of the most powerful men in all of Remnant and he was offering falsehoods. Knowledge was Power. He knew first hand how powerful knowledge was. As the speech drew to a close, Glynda Goodwitch walks up to the mic. She was the factor that forced Cinder's hand. She much like Jaune preferred the shadows. But Goodwitch forced Cinder's hand, forced it into a fire fight that _barely_ ended well.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Though he did like the no nonsense attitude she had. If she was on Roman's side she would most likely prove to be a valuable asset. Of that he's sure.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Ballroom**

As night quickly begins to creep in, Jaune observes his surroundings. He sees an energetic girl jumping up and down around a boy. Not particularly caring he looks elsewhere. He silently scans for anyone who's a Faunus. Coming up short he notices a black haired girl with the black bow away from everybody else. Intrigued he walks up to her, silent observation told him that she was the quiet sort; book in hand, positioned in such a way that she was isolated from the bickering students, and her distinct lack of awareness in surroundings. He decides to approach her after he recognizes the book.

"Can I help you?" The girl asks, annoyed that someone would dare invade her domain. His previous assessment was quickly proven wrong. She was very aware of her surroundings. Curious about the girl now, he decides to get to know her better.

"Is that book Jekyll and Hyde?" Jaune asks her.

"Yes how did yo-" She stares at him from head to toe, trying to get a feel.

"I have the same copy back at home. I recognized the color, had to confirm. My name is Jaune." He holds out his hand. She hesitates before shaking it.

"Name's Blake, so you like books?" She put a bookmark into book and closes it. She gestures for Jaune to sit down next to her.

"I love books, my mom would read me stories of Heroes and Heroines. Stories of great adventure. But I quickly realized life wasn't a fairy tale and sometimes we don't get a happy ending." _Sometimes the bad guy wins._

"Yeah..." she shifted her eyes downward. "But stories are a great way to distract ourselves. See if we could be different people if our circumstances were just a little bit different." His smiles sadly after remembering his time before meeting Roman.

"You're very talkative for someone who seems to keep to the shadows." Jaune pokes fun at that, she half smiles and then frowns a little.

"I like books, anyone who shares that interest gets to be on my talking side. So what books do you read Mr 'I-stare-at-people-who-are-reading-books.'" Jaune lets out a small chuckle.

"One, I just wanted to see if it was Jekyll and Hyde, Two, I'm glad I did because I found a fellow book enthusiast, and Three, I read whatever interests me. I'm currently reading a book about an Alien who's home planet was destroyed. He has to gather five other like him to battle the ones who destroy their planet. It's an okayish read. Decent story and whatnot. The movie adaptation of it was godawful, though." He shudders at remembering it. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Ruby heading towards Blake and him. "Well it was nice talking to you Blake, I'll talk to you later, I'm getting a little sleepy."

"Okay. Sleep well friend." Noticing a quick bow twitch Jaune frowns and blinks repeatedly. No twitch.

He gets up and quickly walks to his sleeping area. He reaches around his neck and takes off his necklace. A Black King's Chess Piece. Putting it down right next to him, he slowly falls asleep, ignoring the arguing and the bickering of people he would slowly get to know...

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Headmaster's Office**

Ozpin slowly drank his coffee as he mourned the state which Hunters had fallen. He remembered a time when Hunters were honorable. Foot-soldiers in the war with Grimm. But as the technology of the world improved the threat of Grimm diminished. Left with a large army against weak Grimm, the governments of the world opted to use Hunters in less than stellar manners. He had been one of the first Hunters to be used as spies. To be used as a secret police. Not many people knew about the hidden factor in the Faunus Wars. The Hunters were thought of as heroes. But Ozpin knew better. It was a civil war for the recognition of Faunus as non-human people. To be equals were what the Fanus desired, but the Hunters were disguised as regular bystanders, even protestors alongside the Faunus. And their goal was to make the peaceful protests into violent riots. To justify violently dispersing them. The Faunus didn't react positively and the war had broken out. A peaceful protest that had gone dark. And he was forced to orchestrate it. He wished to atone, but he knew what he had done was unforgivable. He was tasked with unpleasant task of raising a generation of Secret Police under the guise of public peace, under the guise of the war on Grimm.

As the ashes and dust settled from the war a new group was formed. The White Fang. They wished return to the peaceful protests of ages gone by. To show the world that Faunus were people and that they deserved to be recognized as equals. But the Schnee Dust Company didn't like that, they saw it as a loss of profit. Faunus after all were cheap sources of labor. Exerting its considerable influence on the Vale government, it made the problem _escalate_. They had the then leader of The White Fang assassinated, in the hopes it would make the remnants of The White Fang would feel anger, to repeat history, to justify a retaliatory action that hasn't happened yet against them. They had to wait until the civil unrest and Faunus hatred reached a boiling point.

And that was exactly what Ozpin wished to avoid happen again.

He loved Faunus, he truly viewed them as equals. But his government, the ones providing most of the school's funding, disagreed. Its why the Faunus that attended his schools were discriminated against, much to his eternal annoyance. It's why his standing with the Council was on shaky grounds. They questioned his loyalties. But he would break away from what he viewed as a dark path. If he had to walk the path of the villain to achieve the equality all sentient people deserve, so be it.

As he quietly enjoyed his coffee a loud ping from his scroll wakes him from his musings. Looking at his scroll the color on his face drains.

_**The Council wishes you to investigate the rumors of The White Fang sending The Chessmaster to clean up their mess. The Council has designated the name Black King to avoid causing suspicion. Apparently they still view everyone as pawns to be moved. Even after all these years, the Council never fails to disappoint me.**_

-Qrow.

* * *

**Author's Note: This is the start of the Major rewrite I was talking about. I hope you guys enjoy. Read, Review, Follow, Fav.**


	3. Bad Blood

**_Present Time_-Morning Preparation**

After a goodnight's rest, something that he hadn't had in a while, Jaune had quickly eaten his breakfast. He wanted to prepare for the initiation quickly so he headed to Locker 636. Jaune really hated surprises, gave him less time to act. It pushed him into a territory of pure reaction and in any battle, the outcome would be stacked against his favor.

He checks his scroll for any message from [] but nothing had come. Merely shrugging his shoulders, he continues onto his locker. Inputting the code that he memorized the moment he got it, he opens his locker. Various Dust and some throwing knives, he grabs various Dust flasks and closes the locker. His arsenal was a bit shorthanded, he couldn't afford to bring everything he had. People would get suspicious. He didn't need the throwing knifes, not yet. As for the explosives, at worst he would face against Beowolves. No need to waste heavy artillery on low totem pole Grimm. Closing his locker he looked around and sees a certain Schnee Heiress making stupid evil faces and chuckles to himself. Opting to avoid the spectacle he instead focuses on Pyrrha Nikos. He sneaks up on her while the other girl just politely waits until Schnee Heiress's weird tangent was over.

"Hey! I've been looking everywhere for you. The Headmaster wanted to talk to you." Jaune lies, winking in a such a way that Pyrrha catches on quickly and Weiss is left unaware. She did look uncomfortable at Schnee Heiress's antics and an opportunity to befriend an undefeated champion was too good to pass up.

"Ah, thank you. Would you mind if you showed me the way? I'm afraid I'm not quite familiar with the layout of this school." He nods; she smiles. Jaune then turns to the Schnee Heiress and bows.

"Sorry for the inconvenience Miss Schnee, I'm sure you understand the importance of a Headmaster's request. We'll be taking our leave now." Refusing to let her get a word in edge wise, Jaune quickly left the area with Pyrrha in tow.

Jaune then looks at his watch, only a few more minutes until it was time to gather for initiation. Sighing he turns to Pyrrha. "You looked like you needed help, hopefully you can forgive me for lying to get you out of that situation?"

"I think I can manage that." She laughs. "She kept trying to recruit me into her team, very unsubtle too I might add..." She looks away sadly. Jaune then inferred from that the Champion must've felt alone, isolated because of her fame. This would be much easier than he thought.

"Why?" Jaune fakes surprise. "I-I mean... You do look strong and I'd want you on my team because you seem nice and everything, but don't Rich types like her usually go for Top Tier fighters? Like I don't know... An Olympic Athlete? Not sure." He bites his thumb. "I'm going to shut up now before I say anymore foot in mouth things." He chuckles nervously.

"Oh no it's fine. It's just refreshing and a little amusing that someone doesn't know. Thank you for that." She smiles. Jaune almost felt a twinge of regret for deceiving her. Just as he's about to say something else, an announcement plays on the speakers.

"All First Year Initiates please come to the Beacon Cliffs to begin initiation. We will begin very soon." Unsurprised but still a little ticked off, Jaune headed off in the direction of the cliffs. He had to focus, did he want to pass the test with flying colors or did he want to flop like a fish? He wanted to give off the impression that he was a huge goof and he's mostly succeeded at that. But he doesn't want people to think he doesn't belong here; that was counter-productive as well. Choosing the option of pass with flying colors he just prays he doesn't come across anyone who will question the sudden personality shift.

* * *

**_Present Time_-Initiation**

Jaune stood on the launch pad. He didn't bother listening to Ozpin or Goodwitch. He already knew the objective. Get the relic, kill everything in the way, get back. Simple, left less chance for failure. Jaune liked that. He closed his eyes and gathered his Aura. Jaune didn't like using his Aura; he felt reliance on it could and would get him killed. He gently guides the flow to his arms and legs. Better bracing for impact. Only use it when needed.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with, will be your partner for your duration at Beacon." Ozpin finished. Jaune blankly stared. The man who started one of the most prestigious combat schools in the world, just gave him an arbitrary way of forming a team. Jaune stands there, mouth agape.

As the students begin launching one by one, Jaune merely stands there, waiting. Blake gets launched, Ruby gets launched, Schnee gets launched. One by one, people get launched until it reaches Jaune and the world spins. He draws his sword and sheathe, and he presses the button on the sheathe to turn it into his shield. His upward ascension had begun to slow and now gravity began to welcome him once more.

Angling his shield downward he braces for impact against the trees. Impact in 3... 2... 1... Tree after tree keeps hitting his shield. Broken branches brush past him, cutting his skin in various exposed areas. His downward descent quickly slows and he thanks the maker for his Aura absorbing most of the impact. That gratitude sours as he hits a tree trunk and shock runs through his body. Left with excruciating pain he just simply lies on the tree branch below him.

"Goddamn crazy school... and its goddamn crazy Headmaster..." He curses as he grabs a clean-ish leaf in the branches next to him. He spits into the leaf, grabs Healing Dust from one of his pouches, and adds the Dust onto the spittle. He mixes it into a pasty goo and spreads globs of it over his shoulder. Within a few moments he would be fine. A few moments to possibly ponder the life choices that led him to this moment, but there was no use in that. No use in anything that didn't involve waiting to recover. He hears rustling below him and he tries to look without agitating his shoulders.

"Why are you sleeping on Initiation? Are you that lazy?" A voice calls out to him. He thanks Ozpin's specific wording of 'First person you make eye contact with' would be your partner. He really didn't want to deal with a Schnee. Sighing he places his arm over his eyes causing him to wince.

"Go away Schnee. I don't want to be your partner." He groans outs.

"How dare you! Do you have any ide-" She hesitates for a moment. "Wait you called me Schnee."

"Yes. I do have an idea of who you are. Yes. I did call you Schnee." It appeared Jaune couldn't hide his contempt much longer. She kept pushing buttons he didn't even knew he had. "Your arrogance annoys me, your use of your family name is disgusting, and your perceived self-worth is abhorrent." Jaune failed to see the irony in his sentence. "You live under the shadow of your father. He lies to you, he does questionable things, and the company he owns is no better. The only good that has come from your family is the refined Dust all Hunters use."

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF MY FATHER IN SUCH A WAY!" The Schnee Heiress screamed at him. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts she continues. "Who do you think you are? Because frankly I don't think you have any right to demean me or my father."

"Leave."

"No. Who are you? Wait... No, I know who you are. Only two groups of people come to mind that can openly oppose the Schnee. And I fail to see filthy animal appendages on you, so you must be part of the other group. You are an Arc, yes?" Jaune doesn't bother answering. The Schnee Heiress takes it as confirmation. "How does it feel that the Great and Powerful Arc's are merely a shadow of what they once were? Father told me he used to admire your family, you know. Said they were the pinnacle of what a Hunter should strive for. A line of Warriors unmatched by all. But then the civil war happened, and your family sided with the lowly Faunus." She laughed. Jaune had to get away. The anger was reaching a boiling point and if he stayed, his cover being blown would be the least of his worries. Activating his Semblance he becomes almost invisible to the Schnee Heiress. That's what he loves about it, it allows him to renege a person's awareness that he specifically is there. "Get back here you disrespectful lout! You will show the proper respect to a Schnee!"

He gets up and stretches his arms. The pain was gone. Keeping his Semblance active, he jumps down the tree branch and walks off. He explicitly tries to avoid eye contact. He would be damned before he allowed a Schnee to be his partner.

The journey away from Schnee was a happy one. Each step he took, his mood improved. But he had done something he shouldn't have done. He lost his cool. Something he spent years training to stamp out, his temper. Sighing he finds a cave with some pretty ominous yet crude drawings of what looked like a Death Stalker. Opting to not enter the cave, he continues along the forest.

The trees begin to lessen and an open field begins to come into view. The grass is beautiful and the wind blows gently as he walks past it. What seems like ruins come into view in the far distance. Ruins, relics. It seems like a logical conclusion to make, so he head towards it.

Grimm quickly gathers around him and Jaune sighs. This is why he couldn't have nice things. Drawing his sword, he waits for them to rush him. Three Beowolves lung at him, he sidesteps and quickly slashes downward as he turns his body backwards in a 45 degree rotation. He slashes the middle one's leg; it lets out a small whimper. Before the other two react, he aims for its head and beheads it in one clean motion. He likes Grimm, they don't have human tactics. They just lunge at people. It makes them extremely easy to predict. And he most definitely loves predictability.

The remaining two Grimm attempt to pull the same maneuver and Jaune, merely bored, repeats the same move. Pragmatism. No wasted movements, no wasted energy. One more dead Grimm. As he turns to face the last one, a gunshot goes off and the Beowolf crumples to the floor.

"Thought I'd help out." Blake seemingly appears out of the shadows. Jaune frowns, stealth based abilities. Could be useful, would be useful, most definitely would be useful. Jaune lets out a small chuckle.

"I had it under control." He points to the two dead Grimm behind him as they quickly disintegrated. "I never get used to that though... The way they just evaporated into thin air. Makes me think they never existed in the first place..." He clicks his tongue in annoyance. He gives one last look before he and Blake begin walking towards the ruins.

"So, what the rule for partnership again?" Blake gives a sly grin.

"Welcome to Team Jaune, courtesy of Initiation and other crazy things." He chuckles. "Though once this is over, I think a good long nap sounds good."

"You and me both..." She yawns. He liked talking to Blake, they shared a common interest and more importantly he didn't feel an endless wave of contempt whenever she opened her mouth. They continue bantering about books until they slowly reached the Ruins.

The Ruins have broken chess boards and splintered wood, but in the center there is one chess board untouched with pieces on top. They are a nice Marble touch while Jaune's necklace has an Onyx build. A few pieces are missing on the white pieces and the entirety of the black pieces are gone. Calling these Relics is a bit of a stretch but it seems to fit the theme. But something was from the picture.

"Hey Blake what do we know about Hunters?" Jaune turns to face her.

"That's a vague question Jaune. There's a lot we know about Hunters. They fight Grimm, they keep public peace, various different things. Why do you ask?" She knits her eyebrows together. He crouches down and wraps his hands around his head in an attempt to force his mind to work.

"There's a logical conclusion we can draw from this." He jabs his fingers towards the board. "These chess pieces are related to Hunters. They have to be. We're training to become Hunters. To be the best we can be. And yet, here's a chessboard. There are steps I'm not seeing here." He shoots back up and paces around for a bit.

"Don't you think that's a bit of a stretch? I mean for all we know, we just need to grab a chess piece and that'll determine who our teammates are." She offers. Realization hits Jaune like a sack of bricks.

"THAT'S IT! Wow I feel dumb, why didn't I think of that?" He looks at the chessboard. A Knight Piece and Two Bishop Pieces were gone. He tries to grab a pawn, but it was stuck in place. Frustrated he tries to grab the others. All stuck in place. He tries to grab the King, the Queen. All stuck. Exasperated he pokes the Knight piece, it wobbles. He pokes the Castle Pieces, they wobble as well. "Okay, Ozpin specifically wants us to grab either a Knight's Piece, or a Castle piece. Hmmm."

From his earlier encounter with Schnee he could safely assume she hadn't gotten her piece yet. So that meant if he grabbed a Castle piece and if Blake's hypothesis was right and Schnee grabbed a Castle Piece; they'd be on the same team. Opting to not even give that a chance, Jaune grabs the Knight Piece. The moment he picks it up, he hears a ping in his school scroll and he knits his eyebrows together. He opens it up.

Congratulations on grabbing the relic. There is one more task you have to complete. Find a Nevermore or Death Stalker and kill one with your partner and two other people. You are locked into choosing the people who chose the Knight Piece. GPS coordinates have been locked into your Scroll. Blue will represent your future teammates. Red will represent the areas that will have either of our designated assignment Grimm. Good luck

-Ozpin.

"Let's go."

* * *

Ozpin sips his coffee quietly. The Arc boy is rather weak physically. He noticed Arc tended to make deliberate moves, slow movement, always aiming for weakspots. If he had been anything like the rest of his family, that would've meant an instant kill for the Grimm. But Ozpin noticed it took the boy two to three hits to kill the Grimm he was facing. Needless to say, physically he is the weakest Initiate Ozpin had ever seen. And when compared to the impossible standard that the boy has to live up to, it really stood out. His use of Aura was strange though. He never once used it in an offensive manner. Never channeling it once to damage his opponents. It was always used in defensive ways.

But the level of calculation the boy possessed. The way he was able deduce the team structure was telling of something. It cast Arc's previous interactions in an interesting light. It was as if he had a deliberate intent to make people think he was a fool. A weakling. And in some regards that was true. His handling of his interactions with Weiss Schnee was very poor. But he had previously helped Nikos, but he had done so in a self-defeating manner.

That begged the question. Why would this boy try so hard to get people to underestimate him? And then turn around and show a level of tactics only veteran Hunters possessed.

It was disconcerting to say the least, but only time could tell what mysteries Jaune Arc represented.

* * *

**Author's Note: Wow I ended up demonizing Weiss a bit here, holy shit. But I guess its only logical seeing how in the previous chapter I -did- set up the Schnee Dust Company as the driving force in the reason The White Fang turned bloody. Also I originally didn't want to do a prominent family story with Jaune, but it seems like a good idea seeing how it gives Jaune an additional reason to dislike the Schnee family other than his shaky relationship with the White Fang. His relationship is like 3 degrees removed. Follows orders from Roman, who works with Cinder, who works with the White Fang. Yeah he has no personal loyalties to them. But seeing how Weiss and Jaune are two apples far from the family tree, I'll probably write a sort of gradual grudging respect towards each other. At least until a certain point. Then all bets are off. Also Jaune, stop being such a self-entitled bitch. I can't wait until you get the character development you so very much need.**

**As for Monty passing away, I'm going to miss the guy. He was most definitely a cool dude.**


	4. Team ALBN

_**Distant Past-**_**Arc Household**

Gris Arc stared at his son. A seven year old who showed no combat capability. His endurance was non-existent and he had a nervous disposition. Gris bit the insides of his mouth, the joy in his entire world couldn't succeed the line. If the man believed in fate, this would be what he called a cruel irony. He followed his beliefs and life seemed to punish him for it. But he refused to let the past control him. If Jaune could not succeed him in the suggested Arc way, Gris would make sure that Jaune would succeed the line the only other way, strategy.

"Dad I'm tired... can't we go home?" The little boy huffed and wheezed. Gris closed his eyes, yes this was the path he would guide his son along. A true warrior didn't rely on brute strength; he relied on his mind. And Gris was proud that his son had the potential to become a Tactician. The Arc line was not dead, and the Schnees haven't won yet.

"Yeah sure buddy, let's go play Risk with your sisters," he smiled.

"YAY! PREPARE TO LOSE AGAIN DAD!" He bellowed out in earnest. Gris smiled softly, he wouldn't willingly lose a game of strategy. It was time to teach Jaune the true meaning of the word Risk.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**The Forest**

Blake opens her scroll, sure enough a map of the entire Forest was uploaded directly to it. The layout of it all led to the center, the Ruins. It revealed that entirety of the forest and ruins were inside a massive crater. The Blue Marker on the map kept blinking, and each time it blinked, it moved towards Jaune and Blake's position. With a Red Marker following closely behind.

"Son of a..." Jaune swore under his breath. At the rate it was blinking it implied a Nevermore. Only they had that type of movement speed. He sat down; he had to prepare. He opens the compartments in his belt and grabs the Lightning and Ice Dust, blasting caps, some fertilizer, and some small empty flasks. Crude but efficient.

"Jaune?" Blake calls out to him. "What are you doing?"

"I, in my infinite wisdom, forgot to grab explosives. I genuinely didn't think to bring explosives because I didn't know we had to face a Nevermore or a Death Stalker. But, all hope is not lost. I'm making some right now." His voice saturated with sarcasm as he begins to rush through making his crude grenades. He stares back and forth between the task at hand and the blinking Red Marker that got closer and closer with each passing minute. By the time he finishes the third one he hears a screech that scares Jaune slightly. It's here.

As he coats his right hand with Lightning Dust, he gets up quickly. Three shots, that's all he had, but it might as well be one shot with the kickback. Blake turns to him.

"You're an Arc; you got a plan?"

"I do." He stares into the general direction the Nevermore was.

"Care to fill me in?" She waits.

"It hinges on two factors: upward mobility and long range sniping. I don't suppose your weapon can hit far away targets with any sort of accuracy can it?" His eyes light up with desperation. Blake winces when the Nevermore's screech gets even louder. Jaune closes his eyes and prays, prays that his plan one last look at the map, the Red dot seemed to be circling the Blue dot.

It wasn't headed towards them anymore.

If Jaune was alone, if this wasn't part of his cover mission, he would leave them to die. He didn't know them; he didn't care for them. But he had to get fully accepted to Beacon, and he had to earn the trust of those around him. To do that he had to make calculated risks, foolhardy risks that only idiotic heroes would make.

And he felt nothing but disgust for himself. He wasn't some Saturday Morning Hero who would save the day. He was human, this was reality. Chances were he would die a gruesome death and what would that prove? Nothing.

But his hand is forced, his options are limited. Insanity is the only option that doesn't immediately renege his mission entirely.

"I hate this school so goddamn much." He resigns himself to his fate. "We're going after them. They need our help." Blake looks at him as if he's lost his mind.

"You sure? Here we have a better advantage, you implied that yourself." He sadly nods his head.

"The Nevermore isn't coming here anymore. Our would-be teammates hunkered down somewhere and the Nevermore is circling the location now." The distance was a half mile away, the morning sun that had greeted the two when they began initiation was now a setting sun. Their growling stomachs told them to hurry up, and that meant if they didn't do something quick, they wouldn't be able to do anything. "If we don't do anything at all, chances are, they might die."

"Right, let's do this then." She smiles, what the White Fang had told her long ago was true. The Arc Family did have hearts of gold. It gave her a drop of optimism in a sea of cynicism.

Jaune sprints towards the Nevermore's location, back into the forest. Blake follows along silently but quickly. Jaune wanted nothing more to just let them die, but this was beyond his control. He no longer had a say in the matter, only his heroic cover did. And that idiot decided to jump head first into a battle he had no guarantee of winning. He takes out his Healing Dust and flares his Aura up. He spreads the Dust to his joints quickly. No chances, no injuries. The one thing he did enjoy about his lineage was the excess of Aura. That was only one of three things he seemed to inherit from the Arcs: his sword, his bullshit Aura, and his wits. Oh how desperately he wished he had their strength right now. It would make his decision a lot less suicidal.

* * *

"Pyrrha! Keep up! We gotta ground that bird!" Yang yells behind her. The sound of trees groaning and thumping echoes as Yang weaves through tree after tree.

"I'm trying!" Pyrrha manages to get out as she narrowly sidesteps a tree trunk. "It's not that easy!"

"What so hard about it for a champion? If you can dodge a sword, then you can dodge a tree!" Yang scoffs as she stops and plants her foot forward. She cocks her arm for the wind up and an obnoxious crackling of wood bursts in Pyrrha's ears. Wood chippings gently drifted to the ground as she sprinted past.

Just how strong is Yang!?

* * *

Jaune looks to see the giant nevermore.

This is bad. Its aerial advantage meant he has to be careful. It meant fighting range and the only ranged weapon they have is Blake's dinky pistol and Jaune's good arm.

But that's never stopped Jaune before.

Only his iron grip turned cold as he held pure frost; his blood burned his senses as he took all of his surroundings in. No mistakes.

Jaune stops dead in his tracks and winds up. He'll regret this, but gaining favor with the people around him was all that mattered.

"It's all in the wrists." Jaune exhales. He eyes the wings of the Nevermore as he motions through a familiar stance.

He didn't hesitate. He couldn't hesitate.

Jaune looks at the Ice Dust Grenade hurling towards Nevermore.

"Now or never." Jaune gritted as he brought up his only good arm. It pointed dead-on to the ice and Jaune waited. He squints as his eyes burned. He couldn't blink, he needed all the concentration he could get. The timing could make or break this.

Without another thought, he thrusts his arm forward. His hand shudders in shock as an arc of lightning surged through the air. A loud pop comes from his shoulder and Jaune clutches it in pain. He didn't even need to look up, the scream of the Nevermore confirmed he hit it.

* * *

Yang hears thunder crackle in the air and watches the nevermore plummets. Trees groan and the ground shudders. Screeching fills the air.

Now's her chance.

"Yang!?" Pyrrha watches as Yang leaps high up from her sights.

She stood gaping as Yang flew in the air.

No.

It wasn't flying. She jumped. She JUST JUMPED.

"Special delivery!" Yang cackled as an explosion boomed behind her, propelling her straight down towards a web of earth. A insignificant fly laid there trapped.

Another screech fills the air. But Pyrrha recognizes this one. It's not just a scream of pain. It's a plead for mercy. Pyrrha thoughtlessly ran forward. She grows more and more worried for her new partner as she hears shotgun blast after shotgun blast in its unadulturated glory.

The smallest glimpse she saw was Yang straddling the nevermore's neck, brutally punching its head side to side. Each punch expelling blasts of fire. But what scares her the most; Yang's calm. Her face breathed easy as her fists ruthlessly brutalized the Grimm's head.

Pyrrha came to realize that she became partners with an unusual person. Her eyes widen as a blur whizzes past her. She didn't bother looking back as she knew what happened.

She stands there as the nevermore struggles to stand. Its wing may be frozen, but it didn't stop how intimidating it looks. Pyrrha felt a chill on her neck.

"Pyrrha!" The spartan looks behind. Yang smiles widely. "Kick its ass for me!" Yang slumps against a bent tree. Pyrrha nods.

Without a second though, Pyrrha whips back to the Nevermore. Akouo flies off her arm a second later, hurling towards the nevermore.

Gripping Milos tightly, Pyrrha grips the air toward Akouo. A faded aura glows from her hands. The shield that flies dead straight curves. The Nevermore responds with a swipe from its free wing. Pyrrha's hand guides the shield into a tree and it bounces.

The nevermore never saw it coming. And from its one eye on the side, it didn't expect a calm girl with long red hair charging up with a blade in both hands. Its ears were the last things to fade after it heard a gruesome slash.

Blake saunters up to see a girl with red hair pulling out a sword from the dead Grimm. She stands there with hidden relief.

"What took you so long?"

Slightly ticked off, Blake says nothing. A girl with long flowing locks is smiling at her as she sits against a tree, recently broken in half.

"Birds are known to fly faster." Blake points out as she glass walls her emotions.

The blond takes a moment of silence with her smile. "Good excuse."

She sighs as she looks away with closed eyes. The two look behind them to see a boy holding his shoulder walking towards them. His arm circles its socket, as if to test it.

"Nice job." Jaune utters.

"Ah. Pyrrha did most of the work." Yang leans on the tree to relax.

"Was the ice from the grenade?" Blake questions Jaune as he walks up. Blake wasn't stupid. It didn't take much to realize that Jaune froze the wing.

"Perceptive." Jaune smiles as he walks up.

"Hello again!" A voice chirps. The trio notices Pyrrha walking back.

"Evening." Jaune quips as he yawns. He looks towards Yang, offering a hand. "Think you can walk?"

Yang take the gesture with a pleased smile. "Ha. That was nothing."

Blake looks to the side. "We should get going. Chances are, Grimm are converging here from all the noise."

"Right!" Yang pumps her arm. Then points in a seemingly random direction. "We're not far. I saw a bunch of old rocks that-a-way when I was falling with style."

Blake nods and she and Yang walks off first, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha behind. Jaune looks over to Pyrrha. "Falling?" Jaune asks.

Pyrrha sweats profusely. "She jumps good." She awkwardly shares. Jaune blinks slowly.

That... was not in Yang's report. Jaune shook his head in resignation. He needs more information, he needs more preparation. He hates these risks he has to take.

"In any case," Jaune went on to follow Blake and Yang. "We should hurry."

"Right." Pyrrha confirms as she followed closely behind.

The two catch up to Blake and Yang in no time.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Ceremony**

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, you collected the White Castle pieces. And you were tasked with killing a Deathstalker, in which you passed with flying colors. From this moment on you will be known as Team RSVL(Rose-Violet). Led by Ruby Rose." Yang casts a proud look towards her little sister. "Jaune Arc, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, and Pyrrha Nikos, you collected the White Knight pieces. You were tasked with killing a Nevermore, in which you did an adequate job. From this moment on you will be known as Team ALBN(Albine). Led by Jaune Arc.

It came as no surprise. He was groomed for this position his entire life. But what did surprise him that Schnee wasn't made a leader as well. As loathe as he is to admit it, she was groomed to take the mantle of leadership as well. As the people around him celebrate and bask in the afterglow, he couldn't help but stare at the Heiress. The strained smile on her face advertises her displeasure.

A hand is placed on his shoulder, "Jaune, you did it!" Pyrrha screamed. Why is she so friendly? He didn't do anything he wanted to do in that fight. And now he doubts that she or Yang ever needed help in the first place. Is that what he's going to pretend to be? A Knight in Shining Armor that saved those who didn't need saving?

He smiles, "It's surprising, me, Jaune Arc, a leader! Wow, I thought for sure you'd be made leader Pyrrha." Empty flattery, empty words whose only purpose is to gain trust. But they weren't empty, she knew what she was doing.

"So, you and Ms sourpuss bookworm over there. You two look cute together, just saying. You got this nice, 'I hate everyone in the world but I trust you' thing going on." Yang wraps Jaune's neck in her arm. "The goth thing is a bit dated but I must say, you two bring a strong case for its revival."

So much for acting the fool, so much for hiding his contempt for everything. Jaune sighs; he didn't have time to deal with teasing. He has to remake his plan; so much has changed. He gently removes Yang's arm around his neck and walks off the stage.

"What's his problem?" Yang turns to Pyrrha. "I'm just trying to be friendly."

* * *

**Author's Note: Fucking combat I swear to god. My good friend DestinyTail0 ended up helping me with the combat because heaven knows I suck at writing combat. Go read Mute Arc, it's a heartwarming read. Anyhow I hope you guys enjoy. Also ALBN(Albine) is meant to evoke Albinism, a genetic predisposition that doesn't have pigment in the skin or hair. So essentially the most colorful team is colorless because each of the characters in the team, have colors to them that don't fit with the color they represent. I thought the idea was cool.**

**Also college is killing me slowly inside. The stress of it is killing my creative side hardcore. If a month goes by and I haven't update the chapters, that's why. Though writing TCC is relaxing so I might be able to write regardless, I'm not sure yet. **


	5. Patron of Artemis

_**Present Time-**_**Classes**

Weiss Schnee twisted the rapier in the Boarbatusk's stomach, acidic blood sprays into her face like a three second sprinkler going off. A pained squeal escapes its lips before it dissipates into a cloud of smoke. Her heartbeat forces itself into her ear and the damp metallic taste at the base of her throat reminds her of her human weakness. But she loved the energy of fighting, that fast-paced adrenaline kicking in to heighten her senses. But she never rationally thought things through when she let her instincts take hold. Next time her emotions wouldn't control her. A Schnee is a master. Masters do not tire. They do not waver. They act. They conquer.

"It seems we are in the presence..." Weiss drowns it out; it isn't important. She already knows what Professor Port will say. She should have been leader, not that simpering fool named Rose. She slows her breathing and remembers the meditation her teacher had taught her to calm the anger within. Clear the mind of emotions, not of thoughts. Thoughts are inconsequential, they are to be observed and weighed on merit. Rational and calm is what she strives for. The worst mistakes are ones born of anger. Weiss opens her eyes and breathes out. Ruby Rose stole the position that should be hers and the Arc heir still didn't deserve his position. Whatever honor and dignity that family had left, the boy seemed to squander it with lazed action. It disgusts her. Breathing in again, calm is what she wants. A fool's decision should not affect her.

She walks off without bothering to talk to her team leader. She doesn't need incompetent people in her team. Ozpin made a mistake.

Blake silently reads her book as she walks out of Port's class. The way Port kept droning on and on about how great of a hunter he was allowed Blake to read her books without guilt.

"Hey Blake, you see Pyrrha?" Yang calls after Blake. Blake's ears droop underneath her bow. She really didn't want to deal with high-energy people right now.

"No, good luck finding her." Blake tries to walk, but Yang grins as she wraps her arm around Blake's shoulder.

"Let's go look for her, team-buddy!" Yang drags Blake along. Blake sighs as she puts her book away.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Junior's Bar**

Long after classes had ended, Jaune tried to leave the grounds of Beacon for some peace and quiet. But that proved difficult quickly the moment Jaune was left alone with a certain blonde-haired girl. He activates his Semblances and her awareness of him being there was gone, so he headed towards Junior's bar. He owed Jaune a few favors, so Jaune doubted he'd care that Jaune was underage. When he arrived, Junior merely shook his head and offered an empty seat.

Jaune takes the first shot of the latest cocktail Junior cooked up. Usually he wasn't a drinking man, but today he felt killing his brain is sorely needed. A warm feeling begins to burn inside of his stomach and it quickly spreads to his fingers and face. The feeling fills him with a sense of disgust, but ever since he came to Beacon; his workload increased. Gather info, hunt the traitors, coordinate the dust heists. The list kept piling on and on and on and on and on. He downs his third shot.

"It's not like you to try to get shit-faced Jaune." Junior gestures for Jaune to stop. Jaune blinks for a moment.

"Shit-faced?" He bursts out laughing. Junior looks away and scratches his face with a single finger.

"I have to keep up with the street lingo the kids use these days. They're the ones who spend the most Lien here." Junior grabs Jaune's empty cups. "I know you don't want to talk business, but this is important." Junior brings his head close. Jaune sighs.

"Well it's probably good you stopped me before I drunk myself into the ground. Alright, lay it on me Hei Xiong."

"I know you've done me favors and everything, but I wouldn't let you get so drunk you'd pass out. Bad for my bottom-line." Junior begins cleaning the cups.

"My hero~" Jaune sarcastically responds. "Get to the point."

"Some government types were asking about the same things you were asking about last week."

"You'll have to be more specific Hei; I've asked a lot of questions." Jaune glares, Junior doesn't notice.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you know more than you let on, Arc. Anyhow, they were asking about the White Fang. They wanted to know if they hired someone to clean up their mess." Junior finishes cleaning the cup in his hand and puts it away.

"What did you tell them? And were you able to mine info out of them?" Jaune rests his arm on the table.

"1,000 Lien." Junior responds curtly.

"Tch. I guess favors only earn you discounts, not freebies." Jaune throws two 500 Lien credit chips at Junior.

"I really don't know why a Hunter-to-be like you is coming to this side of the law. Regardless, I told them that the word on the street was that the Chessmaster came in to take care of the traitors in the Faunus camp."

"What? I thought that name was a myth." '_How do you know I was hired Junior_?' Jaune thought quietly to himself. The only ones who are supposed to know are Roman, Adam, the White Fang Higher ups, Neo, and... Cinder. Someone sold information about him. Jaune clenches his fist tightly, his nails dig deep into his palm.

"I thought so too, but that doesn't matter. The info I got out of the Suits was more interesting." Junior leans forward.

"Stop being a tease and tell me already." Jaune glares at Junior.

"I'm not a kid, glaring at me only pisses me off." Junior glares back.

"Just tell me what I paid you for Junior." Jaune clicks his tongue, blood coats his finger as his knuckles turn white. He needs to figure out what's going on. Preferably before someone put a bullet in his head or worse, jail.

"They know the Chessmaster exists. And get this, they hired Ozpin to hunt the _lucky_ person down. People say that if the Goddess Artemis witnessed the man in action, he would be the first male to join Artemis' Hunt."

Jaune whistles, "That good, huh? You got anything else for me?"

"No. I have a business meeting in 10 minutes, so I'll see you in the future." Junior leaves. Jaune remains seated at the bar counter, ruminating over the events that played out so far.

He passively thinks over Schnee's fighting style. She seemed heavily reliant on her Glyphs. Did that mean she couldn't move as fast without them? Questions begin popping up in his mind as he plans out how he would deal with the people if they found out what he is. His first priority is preventing Ozpin from getting anymore information about him.

A yawn leaves his lips as a soft ping came from his scroll. Taking it out, he looks at the sender. Sure enough it was []. This time a simple text message had been sent to him. It said something along the lines of, "There's a local bookstore owner that I want you to get in contact with. He's one of the best information brokers on your side of Vale. Careful though, he's not very trusting of humans. Your inherited name should dispel any hostilities. His name is Tukson."

Jaune yawns, more work to do. Fantastic. He would go first thing tomorrow. Night had come before he realized it. Taking out his wallet and leaving 50 Lien on the counter, he heads back to the dorm.

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Beacon Academy**

The morning came quick and Jaune had woken up with a minor headache. His original plan to get drunk was sidelined the moment he learned his identity might be in danger. The hours dragged on as nothing of product happened in his classes. They kept repeating the same tired things he already knew. A hunter is... and a hunter is not... Jaune breathes out slowly, the day was over. He didn't need to get so worked up over nothing. Though at least Port did something different. As boring as it was... He seemed like a good man, good men are easy to deceive.

"Ah yes Mr Arc, something the matter?" Professor Port's mustache moved as he spoke. Arc leans on the railing and wraps his arms over it. He takes deliberate slow breaths before he speaks.

"It's nothing Professor; I'm only enjoying the evening breeze." The boy lies. Jaune checks his watch, 6:47 pm. He has time to go visit Tukson's shop after his chat; it closes at 10pm.

"It's quite alright, my boy. The evening is truly magnificent in all it's beauty." Professor Port chuckles softly. "Many would equate the cold of the night with terror or sadness. But not you and I."

"Not you or I..." Arc looks towards the moon as he repeats the words.

"Your father was a great pillar of our society, you know. The greatest man to walk this glorious and bountiful earth I ever knew."

"You knew my father?" Arc turns his head in surprise, frowning slightly at the odd choice of words.

"There's not a single adult Hunter who doesn't know your father Mr Arc. But yes I knew him personally. My fondest memories were when he, Ozpin, Qrow, and I would hunt. Oh that man was never one to do things for fame or money. He did what he felt his duty was, and I still think the way his path turned out was an insult to Hunters everywhere..." Port spits on the ground.

"Duty..." Arc stares straight up into the sky.

"Really Mr Arc, you must tell me what ails you." Port gives Arc a good slap on the back causing Arc to wince in pain.

"Promise you will tell no one, Professor?" Arc pleads with the man.

"You have my word."

"People talk about duty as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, but it's not. What is my duty? To protect my teammates? To guide them? To lead them? But what does that mean? Does it mean that I'll one day have to make the decision to sacrifice one of us? And will I have to do that just to protect the rest of us? I've always had someone to guide me life. To tell me what to do, Professor. But now I am alone in that regard. I have been handed a responsibility I have no preparation for..." Arc tries to shake the rails only to lean on them once more.

"I'm sorry my boy but that sounds like self-pity. Duty is doing what is expected of you. Nothing more or less. You are expected to become a great leader. Both by this school and by your family. That is the responsibility that has been placed on your shoulders. You will either live to everyone's expectations, or you will crack under the pressure. As for why-

"I never asked why specifically."

"You very well implied it. Let me finish. As for why you were chosen, Ozpin chose you because you had a plan. In every move you made, you had deliberate intention. It's also why we were considering appointing Ms Schnee the leader of her team as well." Port strokes his mustache.

"Then why wasn't she chosen then?" Arc fully faces Port.

"Simple. When the chips were down, you stood up and led your new partner towards almost certain danger to save two strangers. You did it with a clear motive, clear preparation, and your hesitation was next to nothing. While Ms Schnee confounded the rifts between herself and her team. Her immaturity cost her the position that should have been hers. And it almost cost you yours when both of you antagonized each other."

"But they didn't need saving. I showed up there when they had already killed the damn Nevermore." Jaune tries to downplay his involvement.

"You grounded the bird. Without that, the others couldn't have killed it. Take credit for what you've contributed to my boy. I do it all the time! HA HA!" Port lets out a hearty chuckle. Jaune merely blinks.

"Thank you for helping me gather my thoughts Professor." Jaune walks off before bothering to listen to Port's response. A deep scowl evident on his face before his eyes widen. Weiss gets off the wall to walk past him. He opens his mouth to try to say something, but a frown appears on his face. Deciding against saying anything he walks off into the night.

* * *

**_Present Time_-Vale City**

The evening streets of Vale are quiet, which is why Jaune loves nights so much. Jaune yawns as he walks down the streets. The thought of being made leader preoccupies his mind. Something he felt would get in the way of his task. But there's no use crying over mild inconveniences. No plan is perfect and no situation is completely beneficial. Still it annoys him.

"Hey boy! Would you like some ice cream on this hot night? You look like you could use some cooling down." An old man offering free samples yells out to Jaune. He ignores him and walks on. As he reaches a crosswalk at an intersection, he looks at the street signs. They said Mistral Ave and 26th street. One more block... Still, it is something that is placed on him. A small smile appears on his face as he realizes that the bookstore would take care of his personal book supply problem. His time with Roman recently began to eat into his own personal time a lot. Jaune shakes his head, he needed to be mindful of things outside his own thoughts.

He reaches another intersection, Mistral and 27th. Half-way through the block is the store, the sign of the store comes into view, "Tukson's Book Trade." As he draws nearer to the place someone steps out. A girl with bunny ears pulls out a Scroll to message someone. It isn't part of his current mission so he lets his curiosity pass.

"Excuse me." Jaune says.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I'll move." She bows up and down in apology. Jaune frowns and opens the door, a small bell jingles. He really didn't want to be social today, especially after Port, but his mission trumped his personal feelings every time.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, where we sell every book under the sun. How may I help you?" A friendly man carrying books walks through the back room of the store.

"I take it you're Tukson the info-broker?" Jaune asks.

"Depends on who asks." Tukson's smile drops as he drops the books down on the counter.

"Relax, I'm not a pawn of the Queen." Jaune brushes his fingers across the books in the wall.

"Then you're a pawn of the Rook. I remember specifically telling that man I would not deal with him again." Tukson starts cataloging his books.

"My name is Jaune Arc." Jaune looks at all the books Tukson had. All the books he wanted to get but couldn't find. Until now. A giddiness he hasn't felt since he was a childovertakes him.

"Someone with your line working with a man who openly despises my kind?" Tukson walks back to his counter to type the books he put on display. His fingers dances around the keyboard.

"He saved my life." Jaune stops and looks at Tukson.

"And he's taken countless of my brethren and I'm supposed to take it on good faith that he's changed just because the winds of profit sway in our favor?" Tukson shakes his head.

"Roman didn't tell me you two had a history." Jaune grabs a story about Faeries and their political intrigue. He spins the pages fast enough to fan himself for a moment. It seemed interesting, a bit romance heavy, but he didn't mind.

"Roman doesn't tell people anything that doesn't benefit him. He'd watch the world burn if it meant a tidy profit." Tukson grabs the book and scans it. 47 Lien. Jaune takes out his wallet and pays the man.

"Not the Roman I know." Jaune takes one of the free bookmarks that came with a book purchase.

"Enough. Jaune Arc, you're the heir to a family line that put its legacy on the line to save the Faunus. Tell me something, do you think the White Fang need _saving_?" Tukson goes back to cataloging the book he had.

"Yes. The White Fang hired someone to clean up their mess. I'm trying to figure out who." Jaune skims through the book, it's a light read so he didn't need to devote concentration to it.

"And you thought I would tell you what you already know?" Tukson chuckles.

"What?" Jaune closes the book to focus on Tukson.

"Like you said, I deal in information. So I know your conversation with Hei Xiong took place. The Chessmaster... What a tacky name."

"What do you know about him?"

"That he doesn't exist. Or that's what he wants people to think."

"I think there is someone out there playing the system. I think The Chessmaster is just a scapegoat from all sides. Someone to blame for whatever might go wrong."

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Tukson stops cataloging his books.

"The name Chessmaster being thrown around the moment the government gets involved? The name becoming more and more prominent the moment the rumors of him being hired by the White Fang? Let's not forget how no one has even seen this person's face. I want to figure out who's feeding everyone this charade."

"5000 Lien and I'll tell you who tipped me off to the existence of the guy in the first place." Tukson offers.

The man could be scamming him, people should know jack about Jaune, but Jaune couldn't shake the feeling that there is someone leaking his information. "Alright, this better be worth it." Jaune hands Tukson 5000 Lien.

"Cinder Fall."

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Ozpin's Office**

Ozpin looks through old photos. Gris was the most rational and calm. Qrow was always silent, he only spoke when something was wrong. Port was the life and energy of them. He places his fingers on Summer Rose's picture and sighs. He didn't want to lose his friends, but wars were never fair. Qrow grew distant and Port never changed. Ozpin yawns, so he puts away the photo album.

"Shirking your responsibilities Ozpin?" Qrow jumps in through the window.

"No. Merely reminiscing of the good old days." Ozpin smiles as he sips his coffee, making a slow slurping sound.

"The Council wants you to catch the Black King as soon as possible." Qrow pours himself a cup from Ozpin's coffee maker.

"He doesn't exist Qrow. The Council needs to stop wasting my time. I have a school to run." Ozpin clicks his tongue, sounding almost like a mouse click on a keyboard but quicker.

"He does exist. I can feel it." Qrow gulps down the coffee quick and slams the cup down on Ozpin's table.

"Well I'm going to need something a bit more of substance than a gut feeling old friend." Ozpin chuckles as he finishes the coffee in his hand.

"Hei Xiong let slip Rouge Arc is involved with the White Fang." Qrow tosses Ozpin a stack of pictures held together by cheap rubber bands.

"Just because a disowned heir is involved doesn't mean a mastermind is at work." Ozpin looks through the stack of pictures without bothering to take off the band with one hand.

"Ozpin please. If you can't find anything within the next month, I'll buy the best coffee beans for the next three years."

"...Your job is in that bad of a shape?" Ozpin slowly places his empty cup down alongside the stack of pictures. "Also, I thought Rouge didn't like being called an Arc anymore."

"It's better than that idiotic name he calls himself nowadays." Qrow dodges Ozpin's question. "Will you help me Ozpin?"

Ozpin raise his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose only to sigh, "I'm going to regret this in the morning, but alright. I'll do it."

* * *

**Author Note: Port's word usage is a bit of a gentle ribbing at all the writers in the world who try to sound smarter than they are. It's ultimately one of the things that I have to fight against in my writing, pretentiousness. Jaune's a smart guy, but he deliberately uses words everyone can understand. He views things in their simplest form because why confuse people when trying to come up with the best plan?**

**As for the story itself, this is a character establishment chapter. I'm establishing and cementing who the characters are and what their purpose within the plot is. More or less. **

**Please remember to Review. The last couple chapters has been quiet in terms of Reviews.**


	6. Arc's Chant

**_Present Time_-Unknown Location**

Cinder Fall looks through her paperwork. A tedious task, but only she could do it with any iota of decency. Roman couldn't fill out a permission slip to a field trip(something she teases him about to this day), Emerald would rather steal things, Mercury's lazy, and Roman's shadow was always ever elusive. So the boring papers fell to her. She bites into the tip of her thumb nail. Ever since she teamed up with Roman, her profit margins quadrupled, but that also meant more money to launder. As it stood right now, she had more money than she could clean. Roman's boy(?) seemed to know what he was doing, but she didn't want to make a habit of relying on enigmas. Thus she left the laundering aspect of the business to Adam.

Footsteps fill the room, "Who is it?" Cinder doesn't bother to look up.

"..." The person doesn't respond. Cinder sighs.

"What do you want Neo?" Cinder scribbles more information into her paperwork. She would personally burn the man who invented bureaucracy, alive. Frankly, she felt it was a load of garbage.

"..." The girl stands there, merely shifting her weight between her left and right leg.

"You're going to have to say something." That remark earns Cinder a glare.

Neo moves her fingers, 'Why are you investigating The Chessmaster? Are we not allies?' Cinder snorts.

"Because I know nothing of him or her. And enigmas usually mean death in this business." Cinder takes out a bottle of whiteout and applies a tiny amount to a corner.

Neo frowns, 'CM is loyal.'

"I don't know that. I don't even know what he or she looks like. All I know is that Roman has a shadow. Phase Two cannot happen if I'm ignorant of any variable." Cinder bites into the pencil.

'Your actions are more of a danger to Phase Two than CM's enigma. You risk exposing us. Trust me, CM is loyal, that should dampen your doubts.' When Neo finishes her hand movements, she leaves. Cinder takes the pencil out of her mouth and presses the eraser end of the pencil against her forehead.

"I still need to know who I'm giving orders to."

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Beacon Library**

Blake flips through the pages of her book. Her current mood calls for adventure, so adventure she reads. Her eyes dart across the pages, her mind devours the words and sentences as she goes along. She loves books, they allow her to witness a world unseen and untouched. She finds solace, friendship, and love within the pages. So when a certain blonde haired boy interrupted her trip to fantasy land, she made no attempt to hide her displeasure.

"What do you want Jaune?" She asks, making no attempt to hide her annoyance. Jaune chuckles to himself, he could never sneak up on the bow wearing girl, not without his Semblance.

"Where's Yang? Also nice book, I heard it was a good series. What's it about?" He looks at the cover. Placing a bookmark into the book, she turns to him.

"It's about a woman who was given a choice, obedience or exile. She chose exile and its about her journey from a scared girl to a warrior queen who toppled her oppressive society. It's a good book, you should read it." Jaune nods, but he mouths the words '_Where's Yang'_ as he grabs a different book. "Not here that's for sure and I'd like to keep it that way. By the way, you've been disappearing a lot lately. Why?"

"Actually, the answer to my question is the answer to yours. You know how Yang is. The moment I make an appearance she appears like bloodhound to pun and tease." Jaune rubs the back of his neck slowly.

"Well, you could always join me here, Yang never bothers going into libraries." The corners of her mouth twitch upward.

"I appreciate the offer, but I tend to get a lot of work related things. Being a team-leader is not what it's cracked up to be. Just because I had one small plan when the team formed doesn't mean I'm fit for the responsibilities... Kill me now..." Jaune sits down and leans against the beanbag Blake melted into.

"You do seem like the type to just want to sleep in bed all day." She admits.

"Maybe that's why I'm leader, so I'm forced to give my 100 percent, bleh." Jaune makes a cutting motion with his hand over his neck. Blake smirks.

"Well I don't see how that's a bad thing. Responsibility seems to bring out the best in you."

"Jeez you sound like my mom. It's official, you're the mom of the group. Wait no that's Pyrrha. You can be the dad of the group." Jaune sticks his tongue out at her. Blake's bow twitched for a moment, or at least Jaune thought it did. Sighing to himself he puts the book over his face and take a nap. Today was tiring for Jaune. So many errands; so many things to do. One little nap couldn't hurt, especially if he's hallucinating bows twitching.

"You're insane Jaune Arc..." Blake reads her book as Jaune drifts off to sleep. He doesn't know why he mentioned his mom though, he hasn't exactly spoken to his family ever since he ran. The dreams weren't pleasant.

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Goodwitch's Class**

"Good morning class. Today we will be discussing the different applications of Dust." Ms Goodwitch walks in and pushes her glasses back by grabbing the edges. As she passed by Jaune, she remarks, "Try not to fall asleep Mr Arc and Ms Xiao Long" Everyone in the class started laughing. Yang frowns; Jaune shrugs. Weiss raises her hand. "Ah, excellent Ms Schnee. Start us off by identifying the major classifications of Dust. No need to cover the minor classifications." Weiss nods.

"There are many different kinds of Dust as the good Professor said." Weiss smiles to herself, teachers loved it when you paid proper respect. "The major and minor classifications are based on two criteria, rarity and potency. Lightning, Ice, Fire, Earth, and Blood are the five Major Dusts."

Jaune raises his hand, Goodwitch frowns. "Yes Mr Arc?"

"Aren't you forgetting a couple?" Jaune grins. Weiss tightens her hands into fists, but Goodwitch places a hand in front of Weiss.

"Care to explain Mr Arc?" She pushes her glasses again.

"Based on that critieria, we would have Seven Major Dusts. But we classify Aura Poison, I'm sorry I mean Neutra Dust as Minor. Either the criteria system is flawed or there's a third criteria the Schnee Heiress conveniently left out." Jaune yawns. "Of course I could just be full of it and the Schnee Dust Company is always right and heaven knows the SDC has _never_ lied to us lowly people." Blake smirks as she hides her face behind her novel.

Yang turns to Pyrrha and whispers into her ear, "Why's Jaune giving Ice Queen over there a ton of crap?" Pyrrha shakes her head and shrugs.

Weiss's upper lip twitches. "How did you...?"

"Because Aura Poison is both readily available and lethal. Despite my indifference to school, I am not ignorant of the world." Jaune tosses a chart towards Weiss. "I know one more Dust that should be on the Major List, but that one is a family guarded secret. Both mine and yours. So tell me, what's the third criteria you're so desperate to keep hidden?"

"That's enough Mr Arc. That's a S-Rank Hunter information. Frankly, it's a little disturbing that you have information of that caliber." Ms Goodwitch adjusts her glasses again.

"It's common sense. And don't give me that crap about 'classified' information. Knowledge should be allowed to flow freely. Especially seeing how we're going to be putting our lives on the line to be glorified bodyguards to people like Ms Schnee over there. Oh I'm sorry, I mean fight the Grimm and save humanity." Blake stares at Jaune in surprise.

"It appears Mr Arc has volunteered to be the first to spar."

"You got to be fu-"

Goodwitch cuts him off, "And he'll fight Pyrrha Nikos." Jaune seethes at this, he hates fighting other people. Pyrrha merely smiles at Jaune and adjusts her armor, while Jaune's mind drifts to the past...

* * *

_**6 years ago-**_**Arc Household**

Gris watched his son swing his sword to hit the training dummies. The attacks were slow and sluggish, it would be a short miracle if the boy ever mastered the Arc Sword Art. He just didn't possess the talent required for high level combat. And that worried Gris. His daughters had what it took to become great warriors but a warrior is nothing without their wit. Daughters with no tactics but talent for fights, and a son with all the tactics but no talent for combat. One way or another his children disappointed him. A left slash, a right slash, a stabbing motion. Little Jaune had made mistakes he shouldn't have and that frustrated Gris.

"Jaune... let's stop for the day. You've done enough." Gris beckoned out to his son.

"Alright Father." Jaune placed the wooden sword next to the dummies. Gris cracked his knuckles and stood up. "Father, why do you hate the Schnees?" Jaune walked up to his father.

Gris pinched the bridge of his nose. "When you grow older, I will tell you. I don't want your mind to be polluted with rage at your current age."

Jaune frowned. "That's what everyone says, but I still want to know."

"One day Jaune. One day." Gris forced a smile, which made Jaune cringe. "But do you want to know a cool Dust trick I picked up in my time at Mistral?"

Jaune's face had lit up like a house covered in Christmas decorations. "YEAH!"

"Bring out your arm." Jaune complied with his father's command. Taking out a vial of white Dust, Gris stuck his forefingers inside of it. He took them out and then had spread the Dust along the back of the little boy's hand and up the back of the boy's forearm. Goosebumps appeared on his skin.

"Dad it hurts..." Tears had begun to form in the little boy's eyes. Smiling, Gris ruffles the boy's hair with the hand not covered in Dust.

"I'm proud of you Jaune. This is Ice Dust. Focus the pain into the palm of your hand and shoot it out like a energy ball." Gris pointed to a tree. Jaune nodded, wiping away the tears. Raising his arm towards the tree, he had focused the pain he felt into the palm of his hand. The white covering his arm crawled towards his hand and the freezing had intensified. "Keep going Jaune, you can do it." Once the Dust reached his hand, a ball of white water formed in the boy's hand. "Not yet Jaune. You can do it, focus." The White completely left the back of his hand. "Now." Jaune pulled his hand back and had shot it foward, a sound of tree cracking had loudly spread. Cracking wasn't the right word, the tree became solid ice and in mere moments it shattered into small little shards. "So, Dust application it is. I think it's time I unlocked your Aura."

"REALLY!?" Jaune jumped up and down.

"Yes, come here." Gris smiled again. Placing one hand on Jaune's heart and the other hand on the boy's head, his hands glowed with a silver Aura. The moment Jaune closed his eyes from bright light, Gris began the Arc's chant. "For it is in legacy we achieve immortality, through this we become a pillar of society and gain perseverance to proudly stand tall. Infinite in compassion and unbound by prestige..."

* * *

_**Present Time-**_**Sparring Arena**

"...I release your soul, and by my hand, guide thee." Jaune finishes the chant his father had once told him of, his white Aura burns bright. He unsheathes his sword and spreads Ice Dust along the sharp edges. The moment the weight halves, lunges forward. Unfazed, Pyrrha throws her spear at Jaune. Reacting a fraction too late, he raises his shield to guard against the spear but the spear already grazes his sword hand. Forced to drop it, he channels his Aura into his fists. The cut skin knits itself together, Pyrrha rushes towards her leader. The moment she's within three steps of him, he smashes her with his shield. She guards with her right arm bracer, but the impact forces her back a few steps. Just enough time for Jaune's minor wound to fully heal. Jaune reaches for his sword but a black Aura surrounds it. Unable to pick it up because for some reason it's rather heavy, Pyrrha takes the opportunity to grab Jaune's arm and twist it behind him and place her weapon over Jaune's neck.

"Ms Nikos is victorious." Ms Goodwitch yawns. "Remember class, tomorrow we are covering Aura based combat. You are dismissed." Pyrrha smiles as she lets go of her leader. Jaune rubs his shoulder.

"Thanks for the ass kicking Pyrrha." He laughs. Blake sits in the corner of the building reading her book, uninterested in a one-sided fight. "Hey Blake you should have a match with her. She knows how to fight."

"She's a champion Jaune. Of course she knows how to fight." Yang pipes up.

"I'm fine reading my book, thank you very much." Blake doesn't bother to take her eyes off of the pages.

* * *

**_Present Time-_Ozpin's Office**

'_Please Ozpin. Perle has corrupted what it means to be a Hunter. The way he parades his influence over the Council is sickening. You can't let him destroy any Honor we have left!'_ Ozpin breathes out slowly and stares at his reflection inside the black surface of his coffee cup. A fleeting fragment of a friend long dead... He hated nobility with a passion, especially his own. Gris always made it point to prove things with ability and not privilege. Perle and Gris were Heir Apparents of their lineage. Gris valued integrity, ability, and each succession growing stronger than the last. Perle valued social image, rules, perfection. Perle followed Gris, he admired the free spirit Gris seemed to have. But it fell to ash...

"Something bothering you Ozpin?" Glynda frowns as she walks into his office, closing the door behind her. Ozpin looks out the window.

"Just remembering a promise I couldn't..." The words die in his throat and he looks away. "It matters little..."

"Ozpin..." She raises her hand to place it on his shoulder, but she hesitates.

"I'll be fine Glynda. Tell me, what brings you here so early in the day?" Ozpin gestures for her to sit down.

"Jaune Arc." Goodwitch waves away the invitation, preferring to stand.

"Ah yes, his combat skills are within the 'acceptable' range." A hint of playfulness tugs at the Headmaster's lips.

"Why did you make him team leader?" Goodwitch shifts her weight from her right leg to her left leg.

"He reminded me of an old friend." Ozpin blows the steam away from his coffee cup and takes a sip.

"That's a rather poor way to choose someone for a leadership role." Goodwitch walks over Ozpin's coffee maker and pops out the used coffee cartridge and pops in Earl Gray. Closing the lid, she presses the start button.

"He takes great pains to hide it, but the boy has a knack for analysis. He knows how to keep people together and he has the heart to save people without hesitation."

"Jaune is a rather strange student, I will admit." She takes off her glasses and rubs her eyes. The tea fills the cup halfway.

"Tell me, why do you think he's not leadership material." Ozpin places his arms on the table and leans forward.

"He seems to enjoy antagonizing Ms Schnee. There's a blatant disregard to the academics; he only bothers showing up for tests. The homework is almost always incomplete and he has no consideration for those around him. And yet just when I expect him to sleep in class, he's asking questions that no person his age should even been to comprehend." She puts her glasses on and stares at the brewing machine.

"He's Gris's son. It should come as no surprise." He chuckles, fond memories.

"I don't know Ozpin, there's something else in that boy that doesn't sit well with me." She grabs the cup full of steaming Earl Gray. She basks in the pleasant aroma and smiles.

"You worry too much Glynda, get some rest."

"Very well." Glynda leaves the room with tea in tow and Ozpin rests his head against the back of his chair, looking at the ceiling. The moment the door closes, Ozpin breathes out slowly. "What are you doing here Azure?"

A beautiful woman laughs and drops down from the ceiling. "How long did you know I was here?"

"Since the beginning." Ozpin brings his fourth cup of coffee within the past hour to his lips.

"Aw you're no fun Ozzy."

"You're one to talk, I remember you always telling me and Gris to not get too badly hurt." Ozpin gives a small chuckle. "Regardless, what are you doing here? You're not the type to pop in just to catch up on old times."

"I want my son back." Azure takes a manilla folder from her backpack and places it on Ozpin's desk.

Sighing, Ozpin slides it in front of himself and rotates it. He opens it and reads the contents of papers. "...I can't fulfill that request."

"Typical... And if I threatened to reveal your involvement in the war?"

"I would cry." Ozpin smirks.

"That's rich. What will it take for you to convince you that his best interests lie in returning home?" She clicks her tongue.

"He's an adult now, you should be talking to him, Azure."

"After his mental breakdown where he threatened to stab Noir? No Ozpin, it has to be you." She shakes her head.

"He left your household. It's funny, two heirs. One disowned and the other flees." Ozpin gets up out of his chair and places his empty coffee cup in the coffee machine.

"I only have one son." Azure glares.

"You still need to talk to him Azure, it's no good coming to talk to me." Ozpin sighs again.

"He wouldn't listen to me. The way he left... Please Ozpin." She looks away in shame.

"I'll tell him you stopped by Azure. No promises."

"Thank you." She walks off.

* * *

**Author Note: Looks like I'm making decent progress on this mad story of mine. Hard to believe I've been at this so long. The idea behind this has gone through so many changes, half the time I don't recognize what it's become. This fanfic hit 200+ follows the other day, that's really impressive. Thanks everyone. Seriously though, you guys need to review. Feedback helps a lot. Also, if anything confuses you, let me know either in a review or PM. I'll try to address it as quickly as possible.**


	7. Blood Ambrosia

_**Distant Past-**_**Alone**

When Blake was a small twelve year old girl, she showed up at every White Fang rally. She would cheer the loudest, speak the clearest, and fight the hardest for the good cause. Faunus deserved respect and she would help bring it on. A small little girl, full of hopes and dreams. It wouldn't take long for the idealism to be crushed beneath the weight of the sins the White Fang would commit. 3580 killed, 24 of whom were Schnee executives and 158 were innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It was at age 14 that her insulation to the darker side of the White Fang evaporated. It was at 15 where blood was spilt for the cause. It was at 16 she would have daily nightmares of those she felt forced to kill. But she never killed an innocent and she never wanted to. Wars were based on necessity and innocents were never a part of that equation for her. She thought the man she looked up to felt the same. Her partner, her mentor, and the man she loved. She would spend most of her free time within his room, sometimes reading his vast collection of books and other times exploring each other's bodies. She was ready to die for the cause if that's what it took. Her doubts were minuscule compared to the iron resolve that she had. Until the Schnee Train Robbery.

It was a simple mission, blow up the Dust shipment that the Schnees used Faunus slave labor to refine. Set the charges, send the message that Faunus weren't to be trifled with. The security wasn't too tight and they got in without too much trouble. But Adam immediately went to set the charges without making sure the innocent are safe.

"What about the civilians?" Blake destroyed the last robot.

"What about them?" Adam scoffed.

Three little words. Three little words and Blake's grasp on reality slipped. Three little words and nothing she knew felt real anymore. Three little words and the conviction she had felt gave way to doubt. Three little words and Blake knew that everything the White Fang stood for was a lie.

"How many?" Blake asked, trust fragmented further and further into non-existent shards.

"How many what?" Adam turned to Blake, head tilt.

"…" Blake couldn't ask. She already knew the answer. Too many innocents died for Adam's execution of the mission. She ran towards the front of the train and stopped right after the connector between the supplies and the engine. "I can't do this anymore Adam. The White Fang has too much blood on its hands. Blood it shouldn't have."

"They'll kill you." Nothing more was said, just a simple admission of truth.

"I don't care. I refuse to fight for a cause that's become so twisted and corrupted." She yelled at the man she had looked up to.

"You have blood on your hands too." Adam gritted his teeth.

Tears had fell down Blake face. Raising Gambol Shroud she had cut the connector. "Goodbye Adam."

"I'll give you a year, one year. Beyond that I cannot stall the will of the Council." Adam turned around and sat down, his image growing farther and farther way. Her connection to her old world gone.

* * *

**_Present Time-_Beacon**

Jaune received an encoded message from Roman this morning. Its message a simple request for information on a woman named Winter Schnee. But information missions rarely signified anything good. They either implied Kill Orders, Kidnappings, or other things. Jaune breaks the disposable Scroll into small shards and throws it into the toilet. Flushing it, he turns on the faucet to wash his hands and face. Taking a moment to breathe in and out to calm his nerves, he leaves the bathroom.

"Finally!" Yang yells before rushing into the bathroom. The perks of a four-team dorm meant a personal bathroom. The downside of a four-team dorm meant sharing a personal bathroom.

"I swear to Oum Yang, if you take forever..." Blake threatens her through the door.

"And now you know why I wake up 5 in the morning." A small knowing smile spreads across Pyrrha's face. Blake rolls her eyes and plops back down on her bed to read another book.

"The fun has arrived!" Yang yells as she walks out with a towel wrapped around her head. Blake ignores the girl and heads straight for the bathroom.

Jaune looks around, "Where is it? I don't see it."

Yang cracks her knuckles and socks him in the shoulder, "Very funny Vomit Boy."

"Glad I could make you laugh, Puke Shoes." The moment the words leave his lips, he rushes to the door to escape the wrath of Puke Shoes. He pops out a small bottle of Lightning Dust and smashes it on his legs. Crude but it gets the job done. His speed doubles as ducks and weaves through the poor souls unlucky enough to be wandering the corridors. He didn't have his sword so he had to rely on his surroundings. Glancing behind him, Yang still chases after him, red eyes and all. "...Me and my big mouth." The corridor ends as he reaches the cafeteria and an insane thought enters his head. He scans the surrounding area and finds some poor sap eating mashed potatoes. He runs up and grabs his plate.

"Hey!" The boy yells at him.

"Sorry!" Jaune yells back. Pouring his Aura into mashed potato, he flings it at Cardin Winchester, Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose, and Coco. If his calculation was right, it should quickly devolve into a food fight and chaos would reign supreme. Nora and Ruby take the bait and fling food back at him, he dodges and it hits Yang square in the jaw. With new targets acquired, Yang unleashes a barrage of food based attacks. Within a mere matter of moments, the entire cafeteria devolved into pure unadulterated mayhem. Jaune smiles at his accomplishment and activates his Semblance. Awareness of him quickly slipping into the ether, Jaune laughs to himself as Yang is thrown through the roof. It gave him a small reprieve before he began his information quest.

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Arc Household**

Fleur Arc, the second oldest child of nine Arc children. She felt that earned her the right to be the heir, but her father was always ever disappointed in her. Never good enough, never fast enough, never smart enough, and when she wasn't made leader of her team at Beacon, that was the final nail in the coffin. It would take three more siblings before her father found a "worthy heir." A pathetic boy who cried when she teased him, who couldn't fight worth anything, and to add insult to injury, he had the largest Aura reserves of the family. Her older brother would've been the heir had he not pissed it all away getting into fights with hoodlums. Rouge had a taste for blood, so he would carve his initials into the people who lost. Father had wasted no time disowning him.

"Mom, why do you care if Jaune's alive or not? Last I checked, he ran away. He abandoned this family when we needed to unite." Fleur starts peeling the skin off an apple.

The lady pinches the bridge of her nose. "We've been over this Fleur, and he's still family. Besides, he's at Beacon."

"What?! How?!" Fleur yells out.

"And, he's a team leader. By all rights and means, he's still the heir." Her mother speaks.

"He should've lost that right when he ran away."

"Well that's not your decision to make."

"Lady Azure, isn't it time that Master Arc returned home?" Noir the butler spoke up.

"Not yet, he still has his demons to battle. After all, he's spent time with Rouge." Azure Arc's lips twist in anger.

"I thought we were banned from talking about Rouge?" Fleur frowns.

"It's better than that Oum-awful name he calls himself now. And the ban still is in place, but this conversation is happening because Jaune needs to be freed of Rouge." Azure sighs.

"Shall I retrieve Master Arc then?" Noir inquires.

"No, chances are he'd make good on that promise he made to you all those years ago."

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Dorms**

The information he gathered on the Schnee woman was rather interesting. She was considered the "back-up" plan just in case something happened to Weiss even though Winter was older. Did Perle disown the woman? No, that would get her name stricken from the Schnee household. No, she must've been like Fleur, not 'good' enough. A small of sympathy enters his minds before he squashes it. Sentimentality would get him killed in this line of business.

Her preferred method of weaponry was a rapier infused with Dust. This family cared for uniformity and conformity more than the individual. Not unlike his own... He punches the side of his head with his knuckles a few times to stop the onslaught of sympathy. Where was it coming from?

Her personality was seemingly cold. Those she values: she's kind, almost motherly. Those who get in her way are systematically put down. Literally or figuratively, it depended on the severity.

Beyond the weapon was miscellaneous information that both he and Roman wouldn't care for. Then a nasty idea began to form in his head. If it worked, it would remove the Schnees from play entirely. If it worked, people wouldn't mock the Arcs anymore. Jaune sends a message to Neo through his Chess Scroll telling her to figure out Winter Schnee's entire schedule. For the first time, he would escalate the mission to a kidnapping by his own volition. Roman wouldn't care, information is information is information.

Breathing in, he looks over to his sleeping partner. Even in sleep, she wore that black bow. What did it signify? Yang listens to music and Pyrrha gets ready to sleep. A month had passed since he enrolled to Beacon and he was no closer to finding the White Fang deserters. Regardless, he started to enjoy his time in Beacon.

Yang takes off her headphones and faces him. "Jaune, do you like Weiss?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Jaune frowns in confusion.

"I don't know, you two have this weird tension between you two." She shrugs.

"It's a family thing. Arcs and Schnees after all." He tosses her one of the apples in his drawer. "Eat. It'll help you sleep."

"Thanks. What about Blake?" Yang takes a bite and the corner of her lips foam.

"Hmm?" He takes out a pencil to write some things down for himself.

"Do you like her?" Yang leans forward and grabs her ankles.

"I... I'm not sure." Jaune scratches his neck.

"Oh-hoh? Do tell." Yang crosses her legs and leans forward.

Jaune looks out the window, intent on studying the fascinating non-existent weather outside.

"Jaune, I will punch you in the sternum so hard, you'll have trouble breathing for days. Tell me."

"I'm surprised you know what sternum means." Jaune laughs.

"I'm not an idiot Jaune, despite popular opinion. Now tell me."

Jaune groans. "You ever get that feeling where you want to know everything about a person? What their favorite books are, their favorite musics are, what their dreams are, what their passions are? That's what I'm feeling, but it's too early to pinpoint if that's romantic or if she's in the process of becoming my best friend."

"Sweet Oum, you are adorable. You are a precious national treasure, you must be protected."

"Thanks? I think?"

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Downtown Vale**

Yang forcibly brought her team with her to the night-life in Vale. She recently acquired a certain Heiress's credit card and like the responsible adult-to-be she opts to treat her newly acquired friends with money that isn't _quite_ hers. Blake looks like she's ready to run at any given moment, Jaune looks bored out of his mind, and Pyrrha has a smile that said, 'I'm here because I'm socially obligated to be here.' This is her toughest crowd yet, but that wasn't going to stop Yang from making this the best night of their lives. They needed some festivity and fun in their lives. No use drowning in books like some bookworm.

"So we're going to hit this club called "The Three Bears," I know the club owner and he owes me a couple favors. So tonight we're going to get waaaaaaaaasted~" Yang cheers. Jaune frowns a bit, that's Junior's bar.

"You're getting wasted, I'm reading my book in solitude." Blake pulls out one of her books. Yang grabs the book.

"No. You're going to do something other than put your nose inside of a book." Yang sticks her tongue at Blake. "We're all going to have some stupid, reckless fun. We're going to fulfill every stereotype they have about partying teenagers!"

"How about we don't and say we did," Jaune interjects.

"That sounds boring Jaune, denied." Yang yells out.

"It'll be alright Jaune, it's only one time. As long as we drink in moderation, we will be fine." Pyrrha said.

"Et tu, Pyrrha?" He looks betrayed.

"We're here. Remember, beer is off-limits. We're not drinking that pansy ass light-weight garbage." Yang cheers as she pulls open the door. Hardstyle Techno blasting loud blasted into their ears, the bass so powerful that they could feel it on their skin. They walk in and walk up to Junior, his eye twitching.

"I thought I told you that you weren't welcome here anymore Xiao Long." Junior growls out.

"And I thought I told you that as long as I had physical evidence of you openly flirting with a minor, I could do whatever I wanted in your club~" Yang blows into Junior's ear; he stiffens and glares at the ground in disgust. Then he notices Jaune standing behind Blake and Pyrrha. About to call out to him, Jaune raises a finger to his lip and shakes his head. Nodding, Junior turns back to Yang.

"You're paying full price."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She hands him the credit card. Junior clutches his head as a migraine began to build. He walks off, it wasn't worth it. Yang laughs and pulls Pyrrha and Jaune towards the dance floor. "Show me your dance moves you two."

Jaune smirks and raises his right arm and clicks his fingers. He nods his head to the beat of the song playing in the background for a good ten seconds before he begins moving. No wasted movement, flowing like water, just like how his sisters had taught him. He turns to Blake and draws her in and spins her.

"Oh my god Jaune, you're amazing!" Yang jumps up and down. Dancing wasn't unlike a battle, know the moves, know the placements, and keep pace properly. Blake keeps up just enough to not distract from what Jaune doing. In these just few moments he would stop caring about his mission, his role, his destiny and he would just enjoy himself with his friends. Friends... They were his friends... He grew attached to them...

"I'm not drunk enough for this! Bartender! Bring me a Chateau Merlin." Jaune yells out. A wine so powerful that one glass would make you feel like you're a magician. He was growing attached to these people and that scared Jaune. He would drink it all away to forget the fear building inside of him. The man brings a bottle and three glasses. Yang laughs and grabs the bottle, taking a swig of the bubbling concoction before shoving it into Blake's mouth. She takes a few gulps before Jaune grabs the bottle and downs a third of the bottle. A fire lights inside his stomach and his cheeks flush and burn. Yang laughs, takes the bottle away and pushes the remain onto Pyrrha. Reluctantly Pyrrha drinks the rest. She hiccups the moment the empty bottle leaves her lips.

"You know... *hic* what would be *hic* a good *hic* idea?" Pyrrha giggles. "If we all *hic* got a private *hich* room. And then we can *hic* play spin the *hic* bottle."

"That... is... BRILLIANT!" Jaune yells out. Yang nods sagely. Blake grabs the back of Jaune's shirt so she doesn't lose her balance. Together they walk upstairs to grab a private room.

The moment they enter the room, Yang plops down on the floor and places the bottle on its side on the floor. "Let's do this!" One by one the rest of the team sits down to place the game of spinning bottles.

"I go first seeing how I'm the leader." Jaune grins with a huge blush spreading his cheeks.

"Nuh-uh, I go first because I invited us all on this trip~" Yang counters.

"Fine, but you better make it extra hot~" Jaune lets loose things he would never say sober. Pyrrha giggles and Blake rolls her eyes, long giving up fighting Yang's insanity.

Yang grabs the bottle and gives it a good spin. It spins for a good thirty seconds before slowing and stopping in front of Pyrrha. Pyrrha hides behind her hands while Yang chuckles, slowly crawling towards the champion. Removing her hands, Yang kisses Pyrrha's neck. A small moan escapes her lips before Yang bites the girl's lower lip causing Pyrrha to yelp in pain. Yang presses her lips against Pyrrha's and they start to make out. Jaune tries to look away but he's mesmerized by the sight. He steals a glance at Blake and notices she's bored.

Jaune leans in and whispers into Blake's ear, "Want to head back to the dorm while they're busy?" Blake nods. "Grab my hand, I'll make sure my Semblance extends to you as well." Hesitating, she grabs his hand and the lights and colors in the world fade to grey. Jaune wobbles a bit but he manages to stay upright. Together, hand within hand, they walk out of the club without tripping too much. Once outside, they let go hands and Jaune deactivates his Semblance.

"Why does your Semblance remove the color from the world?" Blake asks.

"Not sure, but it does let me know when it's properly active." Jaune shrugs as he wobbles a bit. Why did he have to drink that blasted concoction? "Taxi!" A taxi stops in front of them; they get in. The rest of the night blurs into a haze.

* * *

_**Present**_**_ Time_-Dorm**

Jaune wakes up in the dorms with a headache the size of the Sun in the sky. Groaning, he turns to look at the rest of the rest his team. They're all groaning as they try to go back to sleep. Jaune places a pillow over his head and screams into it.

"I'm never going out drinking with you ever again, Yang." Jaune whispers.

"Stop shouting!" Yang groans out. The weekend starts off with a bang. Laugh crying, he hears a familiar ring from a certain scroll of his. Groaning he looks at the damn thing and a chill runs down his back. Neo sent a picture to Jaune's Chess scroll. It was a picture of Winter Schnee. It could only mean that there was an opening. Breathing in, he responds with a simple two word command.

**Do it.**

-Chessmaster

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Vale Cafe**

Winter Schnee loves her green tea cold. She also enjoys it when the barristas add lemon and honey to it. Usually people only went one way or the other, but Winter was the only person she knew that did. She loves her small rebellions against the her father's strict adherence to the family unit. Sweets are her life blood, romance novels her guilty pleasure, and cute subservient boys were her passion. She takes a sip of the green tea before smiling, none of the servants back at the Atlesian capital can make it quite like this store. Ironwood always tried to get her to switch to coffee. She admire the General, but she wouldn't drink that devil's concoction.

"Hi, how may I help you?" The silver haired boy smiles. She grins, the boy is pretty. Winter could make him spell her name with only gasps and begs.

"I'd like to drink cold green tea with honey and lemon."

"Sure, coming right up." The boy smirks.

"How long have you been working here?" Winter strikes up conversation while waiting. She taps her nails against the wooden table, making a small percussive melody.

"A week now, the boss usually has me working night shifts but today she wanted me to the morning shift because everyone got sick." He shrugs as he works on making the tea.

She nods and goes back to tapping her fingers and her nails against the wood. "Hmmmm. Hmmmm. Hmm." She hums along with her melody.

"Your tea is ready." The voice snaps her out of her reverie. The boy places the tea in front of her and she drinks it. The way the lemon and the honey clashed with the bitterness of the tea, she loves it. But then she notices a strange foreign taste to her drink, her head begins to hurt and her vision starts to swim. The effects are similar to... Blood Dust... Scrambling for her purse, the boy laughs at the TV in the background. She reaches for her purse but the world spins 180 degrees, gasping for air on the ground. She tries to get up but she falls back down instead, dizziness growing exponentially. Tears flood her eyes and her consciousness fades.

The moment the girl stops thrashing about, Mercury walks up to the girl. Giving her a light smack on the face to confirm, she doesn't respond. Mercury pulls out his scroll and types out an encoded message to Neo as he picks Winter and throws her over his shoulder.

**Mission Accomplished.**

-Mercury

* * *

**Author Note: Well that's Chapter 7. How are you guys enjoying the story so far? Don't forget to review, let's me know your guys' thoughts. Anyhow, the plot is going to start picking up now. The political intrigue is going to hit the forefront of the story, there'll be more romantic moments between Jaune and Blake eventually, but it has to feel organic and natural. I'm not going to force it. Next chapter I'm going to start putting Adam into play. So look forward for that. Anyhow, this is Zaynal peacing out. **


	8. Polemics of War

_**Author Note: Man this was a long time coming. Some good news is that I finally have new chapter for you guys and that I'm going to be focused on trying to get more chapters out. Bad news is that given my track record, I'm prone to writer's block and long periods of time where nothing gets written. This chapter was actually "complete" a month after 7 was published. But I had thought something was missing. Apparently that missing thing was Oobleck's lecture to Jaune and Cardin. Obviously I'm hesitant to include that because it's actually my worldview. I very much think that Polemics has fucked our societies completely. It's how we can get so many different factions of the same bloody thing. Feminists and MRAs come to mind. They're both trying to bring about a world where true gender equality exists but the polemics surrounding them causes them to become enemies. It's saddening. But obviously there are those that would disagree with me, like this story's Jaune. To him, polemics are a necessity. That without polemics, we would have died long ago. But I would counter that while that model might've served us well when we were constantly worrying about war, it no longer serves us now. Of course, this story isn't about me. It's about Jaune. So his worldview will bleed more into the narrative than mine will. Of course, he'll grow as a person and ultimately become better. But I doubt very much that he'll become me of all people. He is his own person after all. **_

_**Also Adam. He was written before we came across the canon evidence of him being a huge twat. After much deliberation, I decided to keep my characterization of him. He became more rounded and human in my eyes. In canon he just seems like a generic abuser. So if it seems like I'm playing favorites, I'm not. I'm just trying to make sure that everyone involved in this story have an understandable point of view. Like, of course Adam would go bloody and paint the walls with human blood. Of course Jaune would hate the Schnee. Of course Weiss thinks Jaune is lazy. Of course Blake knows Adam has gone too far. It's all about perspective. No one is ever truly a hero or a villain. These are people in situations that would test their mettle. Some fail the greater good, others don't.**_

_**I also edited the fic a bit to reflect canon a bit more. It was mainly Winter's description and characterization. You'd only have to reread her portion in Chapter 7.**_

_**Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review if you enjoy this fanfic.**_

* * *

Adam Taurus fancies himself a realist. Ever since he was a child he would wish for Faunus to be free from discrimination. He witnessed the rise of a peaceful movement, dedicated to peaceful measures and protests. But quickly, they were beaten, humiliated, and degraded. Blake had kept fighting the good peaceful fight, but Adam long gave up any illusion of co-existence, not since his little sister Akiko was caught in the crossfire between a violent disruption of a peaceful protest. If the Faunus were to thrive and survive, it would be on the corpses of those who would dare oppress them. He witnessed the fall of the peaceful White Fang, enraged that the so called heroes of Vale would dare kill a child, and he joined them when they began to arm themselves with weapons. No longer would he entertain the notion of peace between Human and Faunus. Closing his eyes, he resigns himself to the trip down memory lane.

His hands were cold, which was odd seeing how they were soaked in blood. His first kill order, it was a piece of shit rapist who liked to get really _friendly_ with unsuspecting Faunus girls. The order had the dual purpose of killing the scum and recruiting potential Faunus into the group. The scumbag had carried a girl off into the alleyway, but what he didn't factor in was Adam's intervention. It didn't help that one of the girls would have been Akiko's age.

Adam was raised with the belief that all life was sacred and the taking of life was reserved for the most extreme of circumstance. But he looked at the monster wearing human skin and the only sane choice was to draw his sword. Just when he had seen the worst of the sins that humanity committed towards his kind, he witnessed crimes even worse. He couldn't help but laugh at the injustice of it all, here he was struggling just to exist, but the damn monsters could walk without fear. Without losing their hope. Not for long, the words raced through his mind and slowly but surely, the boy who dreamt of Faunus Civil Rights became the man who killed all who threatened the very existence of his brethren.

Today his mission is a simple one, kill Blut Schnee. His crimes against Faunus were extensive, just like the company he worked for. He exploited the poor working conditions Faunus experienced, he threatened to withhold funds if they didn't work impossible hours, and he paid them a pittance. Barely able to get by, the Faunus were forced to grab loans from the monster, loans he happily provided. The catch was insane interest rates and slavery was established in all but name.

The Mistrali government was the worst, Vale at least made an attempt to hide the corruption it had, but Mistral made no such attempt. It wore its corruption on its sleeve.

Adam felt naked without his mask, but he didn't want to raise the alarm until after Blut kissed the base of his sword's hilt. He presses the button for the elevator, a loud ding goes off and mechanical doors open. Adam walks in and presses floor 57, the button lighting up. The doors close at snail pace and Adam breathes in and out. Kill orders still set his nerves on edge. The elevator didn't have a camera, so he put the White Fang mask back on. It felt right; he felt complete. He sits downs, no use wasting energy being tense. The monitor on the top right reads 10, 47 floors left to ascend.

He muses to himself, maybe in another life he could have held Blake in his arms without worry. Maybe in another life he could've stopped pretending to be monster. Maybe in another life, pretending would stop being so believable. Floor 23.

She had 3 months left, that's all the time Adam could buy. Soon the Council would grow wise and the last anchor to Adam's past would be pulled away. Permanently. Sighing, Adam pushes the thought out of his head. No need to cloud his concentration with fleeting thoughts. He hopes that she comes to her senses and returns, but if she doesn't then the will of the Council must be upheld. But he wouldn't be the sword to cut her down. Floor 35.

Breathing in and letting it out, Adam stands, the action matching the speed of his slow breath. Floor 49, he wondered if the White Fang had stayed peaceful, would they have been successful? With no way to test his question, he discards it. Floor 54, he placed his hand on his blade and his Aura began to burn. Floor 55, he unlatched it from its sheathe. Floor 56, he popped open a bottle of Lightning Dust and spread it at his ankles and kneecaps. Floor 57, the elevator dings and he rushes forward. He draws his sword and stabs it through a chair facing the windows.

"Hahahahaha, I knew you would be dumb enough to try the direct approach." Adam hisses hot air out of his nose. He pulls his sword out and turns around to see a holographic image in the center of the room, an image of a portly man with a brown beard and a black ponytail. "Perle was right, you animals are incredibly idiotic."

"Blut Schnee you won't profit off the slave labor of my people any longer!"

"How can you kill me when you cannot even find me?"

Adam frowns, "It's only a matter of time before you've answered for your crimes Schnee."

"I wish you luck, animal" The hologram ends. Adam's fist turn white before he repeatedly punches the wall, each hit forming larger and larger cracks. He screams in frustration as his knuckles become mangled and bloody. Once his rage subsides, his Aura immediately begins knitting the ruptured skin back together. Sighing, Adam turns back towards the elevator. The Schnee Dust Company and all like it, would one day pay for Akiko's death. He would see to the execution of every blasted Schnee, even if it meant he couldn't see Akiko in the afterlife.

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Beacon**

Oobleck is an interesting teacher, Jaune thinks to himself. Jittery, not one to lay motionless ever, he runs around constantly. For one brief moment, Oobleck brought a cup to his face as if to drink from it, but the movement too quick he couldn't drunk anything. But drink he did as a slurping sound flickered in and out of awareness.

"It was thirty-four years ago when the Faunus Civil War engulfed Vale. Can anyone tell me why?" Oobleck zooms in front forward towards the class and away from the blackboard. After a few uncomfortable seconds, a hand is raised. "Ah yes, Mr Winchester, finally you are contributing to this class. Let us hear your answer!"

"A bunch of Faunus terrorists carpet bombed one of the Councilman's residence." Oobleck slowly brings his cup to his lips to ponder for a moment.

"That is partially correct, I'll get to why in a moment. Anyone else care to add more to that?" Oobleck tries again, no one bothering to volunteer this time. "How about you Mr Arc? Your family was right in the middle of it, as they say."

Jaune breathes in, "The White Fang's leader had been assassinated and Vale had broken its agreements with the Faunus settlements. With the relocation of Faunus to Menagerie becoming a full fledged campaign, the Faunus grew restless and agitated. But the powder keg exploded so to speak when a Vale Hunter killed a Faunus child. Years and years of resentment and hatred exploded within a matter of minutes and 126 were killed that night. Fearing the riots spreading into a war, the Vale government employed the Huntsman in a suppression unit to silence the Faunus. What should have been a swift end to the resistance turned into a drawn out war the moment Gris Arc, my father, refused to join the wide-spread slaughter of innocents. Whenever the Huntsman attempted to attack the Faunus, my family and those loyal to them protected them at every turn. With the suppression, I'm sorry, genocide a failure, the Faunus rose up to fight against Vale. The Schnee family started a smear campaign against my family and they succeeded by exploiting the resentment that the Arcs would DARE to help those "filthy Faunus." With diminishing support, the Arcs lost and the Faunus were silenced. Fearing for another uprising, the Vale government decided that relocating the Faunus was a bad idea. Today, the only proponents of Faunus relocation were the Winchesters and the Schnee. The Arcs still stand by its decision to protect the Faunus when no one else bothered." Jaune grabs a water bottle from his bag and takes a swig.

"Very good." Oobleck stops moving for a moment to stand in front of Jaune's desk. "Mr Arc, do remember that the legacies of our fathers don't have to be ours. But yours is a legacy I wouldn't fault you for following. Back to what Mr Winchester was saying." Oobleck hums softly. "Gris Arc is viewed as a war criminal to select families. His execution was seen as a victory by these families. Now, who's to say they weren't right? His family? His son? The Faunus?" Oobleck stares both at Jaune and Cardin. "History is never black and white, one side is never wholly in the right or wrong. Not usually. Let me rephrase what you said Mr Arc to those on the other side. Much of Vale and Mistral had a problem with Faunus in the lowest income bracket. Education and career advancement was very difficult for Faunus because they were viewed as thieves, murderers, criminals. Without the income required for an honest living, without the opportunity for a good living, the Faunus turned to what was their only choice between starvation and crime. This cycle of hunger and hate grew and festered. The governments of the world saw the Faunus as a nuisance, a magnet for the Grimm. That much negativity should be dealt with so the rest of us don't die a gruesome death. So they offered a wonderful deal in their eyes. A utopia for Faunus, a place where they could better themselves, Menagerie. But the Faunus: some were hopeful, but the majority were distrustful. They were afraid they were being shipped off to a prison. A little girl was the most resistant, she wanted to stay and play with her friends in her home. She didn't want to move. So a Hunter pushed her forward in annoyance. The little girl kicked his shin. Or at least tried to. Years of resentment and hate had certainly been building Mr Arc. But not just the Faunus, but the humans as well. Reacting in a way no sane or rational human being would, he drew his sword. She attacked him and he was _only_ defending himself. From a child. From a child!" Oobleck breathes out, he tries to be neutral in his lecture. Neutrality after all would inform the most people. But a child dying because of polemical thinking... "Polemics killed that girl. Polemics are what caused the White Fang to turn bloody. Polemics are what divide us. Polemics is very literally the Us versus Them mentality. And I'm afraid, with polemics, history will only repeat itself once more."

Jaune stares at the Professor. Polemics means survival in this world. How could he possibly expect people to stop choosing sides. _What naivety_, he snorts. At least this is more entertaining than Port's bullshit.

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Unknown Location**

Winter's right eye puffs and balls shut. The man with rings on his fingers had greeted his knuckles with her face a few times she had spat in his face. Her pride's strong, in her blood ran the Schnee, the blood of Lords and Ladies. Some of which flows down the side of her left cheek.

"Now, I'm going to ask again. I truly don't like harming pretty ladies like yourself, but business trumps niceties, I'm afraid. Where is your father's spring home?" The man smiles as his eyes narrows, in truth he didn't care if she gave him the answers. Money is money, but quality required a bit of time. And he had an hourly wage, so time's on his side. The seconds bleed into minutes and the man's smile widens once more and his knuckle connects with her left cheekbone.

She bites her lower lip to stifle a scream, tears beginning to form in her eyes but she fights them back. No tears would fall from her eyes, she wouldn't give the brute the satisfaction.

"I'll give you five minutes to think over your answer before I _caress_ your face once more. Choose wisely." The man laughs as he leaves for a brief moment, only to return with rubbing alcohol and a white towel. "Close your eyes." He dampens the towel with the sanitizing liquid and presses it against the cuts and scrapes in her face. She winces every time it comes in contact with her skin.

"You'd think I'd tell low-life scum like you anything?" She looks away from the man. He grips her chin and forces her to face towards him.

"Poor choice Lady Schnee." He headbutts her.

* * *

Jaune looked at the images of the Schnee chained and he feels a bit of bile threatening to surface. Sometimes he wondered if he was cut out for this lifestyle, but he quickly pushes the thought aside as he starts thinking of his next plan. Turning his Scroll off, he turns to Blake.

"Hey Blake, I'm curious, why do you wear a bow even when you go to sleep?" He tilts his head.

"I like the soft feeling of cotton when I doze off." She narrows her eyes.

"You can feel cotton over your hair?" Jaune raised his eyebrow.

"Yes."

"And it doesn't feel restrictive at all? The bow being wrapped so tightly I mean."

"No, it feels fine." She goes back to reading her book, no longer interested in the current conversation.

"Blake. Why do you wear a bow anyhow?"

"Jaune, I don't think you're quite reached the level of hearing my tragic backstory."

What? "What?" Blake starts chuckling at his reaction.

"I'm- I'm sorry, it's just your face. It's so priceless." She continues laughing, eventually she begins to gasp for air but that doesn't stop her laughter.

"I'll tell you one of mine, if you want to trade." Jaune opts to ignore being ridiculed.

"We'd have to be going out for me to want to share angst stories, Jaune." Blake shakes her head.

Jaune's Scroll begins ringing and he frowns when he looks at the name. Fleur... She'll just keep calling again and again until he answers... He steps out into the Balcony to take the call.

"What do you want Fleur?" He clicks his tongue as he answers. "I thought I made it clear I didn't want anything to do with you after that incident with Dad."

"Fuck you Jaune. You think I want to talk you?"

"Then let me hang up, _big sis_."

"Mom's coming back."

"What? I thought..."

"That she'd mourn Dad forever? That she'd stop trying to save the world? Give Mom some credit Jaune, she's stronger than you think."

"I never said she was weak. It's just the vacant look in her eyes when Dad died... I didn't think she'd come back from that."

"And you ran away like a twat the moment she needed you most."

"I distinctly remember you, point blank, telling me that I wasn't needed anymore."

"And then you ran away, like a coward."

"Why are you talking to me? You still haven't told me why you called."

"Schnee asked Mom to investigate the kidnapping of Winter."

"Who? I fail to see how that has anything to do with me."

"Jaune, Mom needs your help."

"Tell Mom that I have no interest of coming back."

"Typical, I throw a tantrum and Dad revokes my chance at being heir. You throw a tantrum and the whole family has to tend to your wounded pride. Still, Terre misses you."

"You lost the right the moment you weren't made team leader. And tell Terre that her big brother won't be coming back." Jaune hangs up and lets out a frustrated sigh. "It is what it is..."

He heads back inside from the Balcony. Blake stares at him for a few minutes.

"What?" He asks.

"I didn't know you had a sister." She said.

"Sisters, plural. I have seven. You were listening?"

"You were kinda loud." Blake smirks. Jaune sheepishly scratches his face.


	9. Connection

_**Author Note: So, chapter 9. This one's a breather for me. Technically, fanfiction in general should be a breather to me. But noooo, I have to have standards of telling a story. Half the time I just want to break the rules of this fic and just do something outlandish. This chapter is probably the closest I've ever gone without actually breaking tone. So yeah, enjoy the more comedic and light-hearted chapter. We've all earned it after Jaune having a giant stick up his ass and being shitlord supreme the last several chapters. **_

_**Remember to review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed this story. Let's me know people still care about my mediocre writing. **_

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Beacon Dormitory**

Jaune stares at his Scroll, so his mom was asked to look for Winter. This... isn't what he was expecting at all. Didn't his family completely despise that family? Jaune rubs his forehead to massage away the growing headache. Why is he even at Beacon? Why was Adam so insistent that he head to Beacon first? Why is Cinder so hell-bent on making his job harder than it needed to be? He sighs and tosses his Scroll onto his bed. Ozpin and Azure are working directly against him, that much he knows. Cinder might or might not be a thorn in his side. Tukson could be a great ally. This is why he preferred the shadows, less likely to get screwed by someone. Too late for that now.

He walks to the bathroom to prepare for the day. A quick knock and no response. Open door, walk in, wash face, get out. _Today's going to be boring, isn't it_, he breathes in.

"You look like shit." Yang rests her left arm on his right shoulder as an armrest. Jaune winces.

"And you're heavy. Please don't." He goes to remove her arm but she's grinning the trademarked Yang grin.

"That's not very nice. However will my broken heart mend?" She mock places her left hand on her chest and her right arm on her forehead.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." Jaune shakes his head. A soft ping comes from his scroll. Direct from his business associates back in the Fang more than likely. This one was new. Factory default ping noise. Someone wants his attention it seems. He grabs it off the bed and begins silently reading.

**_Single Ladies near you want to meet yo-_**

Jaune presses the delete button. Apparently _marketers_ have a way of finding Black-market numbers.

"Single ladies, eh?" Yang wiggles her eyebrows. Jaune groans.

"It's spam Yang. Spam. Let's get to class already..." Jaune picks up his book bag.

"It's Saturday you dork." Jaune drops his book bag. "Wow, you really are out of it. What's wrong? Big Sister Yang will make all your troubles go away~"

"It's nothing you can help with." He types out a message to Neo asking how things are progressing. "I'm just trying to get to tomorrow in one piece."

"Depression, huh? I know a great and affordable place we can get you some therapy." _Wait, what? How in the..._?

"I'm not depressed." He pokes Yang's nose. Yang smacks his hand away.

"Still, if you need someone to talk to and you don't want us knowing your tragic fifth-level childhood of pain, give this lady a call." Yang hands him a business card.

"Are you...?" Normally, he'd mock the girl in front of him. But the genuineness... It gave him pause.

"Depressed? No. She's just a nice person who helps me deal with my anxiety." Yang gave a small sad smile.

"I find that hard to believe. You're the opposite of anxiety. Sometimes I think you never think things through." There it is.

"You should've seen me when I was a kid. I was the stereotypical tomboy. Short hair, suspenders, hated anything girly. Couldn't talk to other girls. They would make fun of me behind my back. But the boys? They would insult you to your face. None of the bullshit of backstabbing. If they had a problem, they'd fight it out. I loved that. Still do." Yang smiles sadly as she looks out the window. "I wanted to be a part of that. I was part of that. Hell, still am in some ways. But eventually, I wanted to enjoy my feminine side as well. The girls... they didn't take too well to it. They accused me of trying to steal the boys' attention. I second-guessed myself so much. I couldn't do anything. Until... my dad finally had enough and point blank said that I needed therapy. I wanted to punch him so hard. Scratch that, I did punch him. But ultimately? I trusted him. I still worry to this day what people think of me Jaune. But I decided that my happiness is independent of what others think. I'll do what I want and worry about what bullshit might ensue after." Yang playfully punches Jaune in the shoulder.

"..." Jaune stares at Yang, unsure of what to say. He breathes slow, deliberate breaths. Unsure of what he should do. This isn't what he expected. This isn't what he wanted. This isn't what he thought was possible. She has a father like his, one who made sure that they were taken care of. This isn't what he wanted, to see himself in Yang. To be reminded of memories that were poison to him now.

He frowns as memories surge forward in a wild dance. Fleeting moments of when his sisters would play board games with him and his father. A time when his family was unbreakable. His father ruffling his hair gently as he gave him more lessons and advice on life. His father reading him stories of heroes and heroines when he couldn't sleep. His dad holding him close as Jaune would sob because his schoolmates kept calling his father a blood traitor and an animal fucker. His dad who stood strong and proud, never wavering in his convictions. A man whose legacy was to be spat on for daring to stand up for what he believed in.

Dad... His eyes begin to water.

"Jaune?" Yang's voice cracks as she sees Jaune's face contorts with anguish.

And then Jaune does something he thought he'd never do authentically. He hugs Yang. "You're all right Xiao Long." Yang stands there dumbfounded, unsure what to do or say. Like a damn breaking, tears run down her eyes as she accepts the hug and hugs him back.

"You don't need to cry Jaune. It's not that bad of a memory." Yang laughs in a broken sob.

"I miss my dad." Jaune frowns as the words escape his lips. Why did he say that? What could have possibly possessed him to say that? "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Now an apology... _What's going on with me today? _He bites his upper lip. Tears break free and he quietly sobs, his body shaking and shivering.

"It's fine. You're fine. Let it out." Yang rubs his back, not quite ready to let go of the hug. "Tell me about him. Your dad." She lets go of the hug and urges him to sit on Pyrrha's bed with her right hand.

"No. It's useless. It won't get anything done. I just need to move past it. I've already wasted enough time as it is." Jaune closes his eyes and looks away, tears falling and voice cracking. How'd he reach this point? Did he actually trust Yang? In a lot of ways, Yang reminded him of his older sister Violet. Fleur would mock him but Violet would look out for him. But no one knows where Violet went after their father was executed. Jaune wipes his eyes and shakes his head.

"I..." Yang starts to say something, but the words die in her throat. The dorm door swings open and Blake and Pyrrha walk in.

"Did Jaune accidentally trip the Yang flag without meaning to?" Blake smirks from the hallway. _Trip a flag? What?_ Yang grabs a pillow and throws it at Blake. She merely side-steps and the pillow hits Pyrrha instead.

"When'd you guys get here?" Jaune opens his mini-fridge and grabs a tangerine, hands shaking a little.

"Just now. I must say, that scene, most excellent. I could feel the raw emotions. Encore!" Blake mock claps.

"Did you and Yang swap personalities or something?" Jaune peels the tangerine, hands shaking, voice cracked.

"I thought I'd pay the resident pun acolyte a dose of her own medicine." Blake fluidly moves onto her bed, almost like a cat... Book already open.

"I don't even know how we got to this point..." Jaune frowns. He pops the tangerine into his mouth, whole. Why did these people trust him so much? Everyone in his life were always guarded with secrets and deception. Was he wrong?

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Unknown Location**

Neo looks at the message Jaune sent her. A progress report? What was Jaune thinking? Roman didn't mind, Jaune could ask him to kill Ozpin, and Roman would humor Jaune. But this... this wasn't Jaune being Roman's mind. This was Jaune making his own power-play. Why is Roman so forgiving of this? So indifferent? If this was anyone else, they would be bullet-ridden and rotting in the dirt. Was it the fact that Jaune distrusts Cinder? Was he doing all this as a drawn out device to protect himself from her? Neo truly didn't know. She moves her fingers across the Scroll to show video surveillance of Winter Schnee. The torture's going along to plan. In a week's time the starvation and lack of sleep would make her more susceptible to suggestion. In that time, Jaune could join her in that room as an "ally. " That's the aim of Jaune's insane plan. He wants to intentionally drive a wedge in the Schnee family. But the scope, that's what Neo just doesn't understand.

Roman twirls his cane and walks up to Neo. "You look troubled."

'He's overstepping his bounds.' Neo emphasizes the signed word bounds.

"It's a good plan. Besides, I think it's cute how important he thinks he's being." Roman chuckles. "Besides, if it throws that fiery bitch off our backs for a little while, it's well worth it."

'You're not worried that he'll tried to take over?' Neo activates her Semblance and Roman is surrounded by imagery of Jaune shoving a sword into Roman's gut. She smirks.

"I hate it when you do that... No matter." Roman takes out a cigar. "No I'm not worried. The kid worships me."

'You better be right, Roman. Last thing we need is an idiot with all our secrets to paint bulls-eyes on our back.' Neo reaches into Roman's right pocket and grabs his lighter.

"Enough Ice Cream. Jaune is someone that I will protect." Roman leans in and Neo snaps the lighter three times before a small fire bursts to life. Cigar lit, Roman puffs.

'That's exactly what I'm afraid of.' After Neo finishes signing, Roman shrugs.

"Make sure that everything is ready for when Jaune gives the word. I want to see how this plays out. I tell you, this is more entertaining than a summer blockbuster by Bikael May." Roman spins his cane around arms and neck, a near useless parlor trick he learned to entertain himself. Or at least that's what he wanted people to think. He ponders Azure Arc for a moment. With what he knew, she would never work with the Schnee and yet here they are. People change, don't they? Roman lets out an amused chortle. He wants Jaune to fuck up. He wants him to ruin everything. Destruction after all would be far more entertaining, especially if Cinder Fall is the one to crash and burn alongside them.

* * *

**_Present Time-_Hei Xiong's Bar**

Azure prefers not to deal with the black market. Too many hotheads trying to prove something. But today's different. She walks up to the counter and sits down. Noir told her that Jaune had frequented this bar for information. The man even owed her son quite a few favors for some reason.

"What drink do you like?" A bearded man asks, staring only at the cup he's cleaning in his hands.

"Chateu Merlin." Azure folds her fingers to make herself a chin rest. Hei tilts his head and his eyes narrow.

"Coming right up. Anything else, lady?" He places a cup into a dispenser without taking his eyes off of her.

"Please Junior. No need for formality. I'd like to think of us as friends by mutual association." Azure smiles the way a mother bear would if her child breaks her favorite China Plates.

"That psychotic smirk tells me you're not here for drinks." Hei Xiong clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Information costs you five-thousand lien."

"Wow, that's expensive." Azure rolls her head onto her left hand. "I'm looking for Winter Schnee. A diplomatic liaison of Atlas goes missing in Vale territory... That doesn't look good on us proud citizens of Vale." Hei Xiong got the feel that maybe this lady didn't include him in the us sentence.

"That information is out of my grasp. If it's a kidnapping like you imply, there hasn't been stirrings in the Relays. But I can point you in a direction that might or might not prove beneficial." Business is business. No matter who comes for it. The Hunters frequently came to him enough that he has practical immunity from the law. Once the cup is full, he hands her the drink.

"How much?" Azure unfolds her chin rest and takes a sip.

"The drink is free if you buy the recommendation. Two-thousand lien."

"Done." She takes a card and inserts it into her Scroll, takes it out and hands it to the man. He takes the card and loads it up. The money is there.

"There's a bookshop run by a Faunus named Tukson. He might know more than I do. Word of warning, he's White Fang."

"I'm an Arc. I'll be fine." Azure gets up slowly.

"I take it you're related to Jaune." Hei Xiong snorts. The similarities were too funny not to laugh at it.

"I'm his mother." Azure bows her head quick and turns to leave.

"Oh." Hei scratches his beard, that certainly changed things, didn't it?

* * *

_**Present Time**_**-Beacon Cafeteria**

Ruby Rose stares into Nora Valkyrie's eyes. Sparks fly, a crowd gathers, chanting ensues. On the line is honor, on the line is glory, on the line is sweet confections! Nora's left eye twitches; Ruby smirks. She wiggles her fingers in anticipation, soon victory will be hers! She rolls her hand into a fist. She can do this! She will do this! Those cookies are as good as hers.

Ruby's eyes begin to water and she blinks. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"VICTORY IS MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Nora steps onto the table and slams the hilt of her hammer down. "ALL THE PANCAKES BELONG TO ME!"

"Nora." Ren clears his throat.

"Yes Ren?" Nora turns her head to her childhood friend.

"We still need the permission of the kitchen staff to make the pancakes." He drinks the green tea the nice cafeteria lady brewed for him.

"Oh yeah. They have to! We won free pancakes courtesy of you." Nora jumps off the table and wraps her right arm around Ren like a Christian side hug.

Weiss scoffs and continues to file her nails. She feels for Ren, she really does. Trapped between two sugar demons, can't be fun. She'd rather have the boring Professor Port teach her everyday than to deal with the antics of Ruby and Nora. At least it was better than dealing with the pun-loving older sister of Ruby's.

"Hey little sis, heard you were having a contest. You win?" Yang walks up to their table. Weiss hides her forehead in the palm of her hands. Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

"Nooooo... I lost." Ruby rests her head against the table, stream of tears watering the plants growing in the cracks on the concrete.

"Cheer up Ruby, I'll take you to that new candy shop in Downtown Vale." Yang rests her chin on Ruby's right shoulder. "What do you say?"

"But..." Ruby wants the cookies Ren makes. He's an amazing baker.

"That's enough." Yang smirks and pokes her fingers into Ruby's sides. Little Red jumps straight up and hides behind Weiss.

"No poking! It's against the rules!" Ruby's voice squeaks.

"You're not my team leader Rubes, you can't ban me from doing anything!" Yang slowly creeps toward her little sister. Ruby isn't crying anymore.

"But your team leader is my friend! I can get him to ban stomach pokes!" Ruby blows a raspberry. Jaune walks by the table and heads toward coffee machines, eyes half closed and right hand rubbing right eye on repeat.

"Hey Jaune! Ruby wants you to ban something. Just letting you know now, I have pictures of the club. No bans." Yang yells after her yawning leader. He throws a middle finger with his left hand without looking behind. Yang laughs, her leader is too adorable. She needed to get resident bookworm with him already. Anyone with a brain could see it.

"Hey! Don't flip off my sister! It's very rude!" Ruby activates her Semblances to tackle the boy within two seconds. For a split second, she swears she saw pure, unguarded hatred before changing into a tired yawn.

"Get off me Ruby, I need my coffee." He just lies there. No attempt to get her off her. Ruby knows that Jaune knows that she's stronger.

"Apologize." Ruby pokes Jaune's cheeks.

"No." He lies there, watching as a crowd gathers around.

"Get off him Ruby. I deserve the flipping off." Yang grins as she ruffles Ruby's hair.

"No! Jaune Arc! I CHALLENGE YOU!" Ruby snaps her pointer finger a centimeter away from his face. "TO A BATTLE!" Jaune shoves Ruby off of him.

"No. I have no interest in dying." Jaune winces as he clutches his right abdomen. He slowly gets up as his Aura flairs to heal the bruising. He hears a slurping noise behind him.

"That's an excellent idea Ms Rose. You'll get extra credit if you accept Mr Arc." Ozpin sips his coffee with the corner of his lips tugging upwards. Jaune stares at the silver-haired man, as if trying to read an academic journal drowned in fifty dollar words.

"Yes of course Professor..." Jaune grinds his teeth. "It's not like I like living anyway..." He mutters under his breath.

* * *

_**Author Note: So yeah, I'm thinking this story is mainly character driven. Of course the plot of this story is Jaune's eventual choice(s) and the fallout of said choice(s). Whatever they may be because at this point only I know where everything is headed. If this all seems too fast or too slow, remember it's because I focus on the characters. If they change their mind too fast or too slow, it's about keeping in character. The Jaune in this story was never really completely evil or even good for that matter. The best example of Jaune's character is someone who lies to himself and is honest with others. Even if that honesty is submerged in deception. He IS the weak and bullied child. He's not the "Chessmaster" because he says so. It's only a name he took upon himself. And part of the story is painfully making him aware of how outclassed he is. He is the King in Chess but we all know how useless they are in the actual game. He thinks himself the player, when he is merely a pawn. A pawn to what? His desire to be... wanted.**_

_**Who is Jaune Arc in this story? A person who doesn't know who he is and he's willing to let others define his identity for him. For now, Roman and Gris define it. But that will change. And change brings pain, a lot of it. **_

_**But Jaune isn't the only one faced with choices. Think of Jaune as the one who pushes the boulder down a cliff. He's not the only one affected by all of this. **_


End file.
